The Journal of Eibhilin Rhett of Candlekeep, Skald
by ShoujoOnmyouji
Summary: The classic story of Baldur's Gate as told through the journal entries of Gorion's ward, a young bard with big dreams, as events unfold. Rated T for violence, of which there will be plenty in later chapters. Later chapters may contain OC/Rasaad romance and will contain a strong platonic friendship between OC and Xan. Also, advance warning, there will be some character death.
1. Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins

A/N: So, this is my retelling of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. More specifically it's the in-character journal I've been keeping alongside my current playthrough. It started out in the in-game journal, but I moved it to outside documents when it got so big it crashed the game. This version is heavily edited, as the original is riddled with errors and is also transcribed in my character's accent using odd punctuation and a few intentional misspellings. I thought this looked too unprofessional to post, so I edited it to be a bit more...readable. I'll be posting it in small chunks as I proofread through the document and fix errors. I hope you all enjoy the tale of Eibhilin "Linn" Rhett of Candlekeep, Skald.

* * *

Day 0, Hour 7

Hello there, Mr. Journal. My name's Eibhilin, but you can just call me Linn. It's very nice to meet you. You're probably wondering what this is all about. Well, see, I'm about to go on a journey. A big journey. The first one I've ever been on, actually. So, I figured I should keep a record of it all. You know, to remember the good times and the bad times and all those sort of halfway times in between. Old Winthrop found you in the back of his storeroom, and he just sold you to me for one gold piece, but you probably remember that bit, don't you? Anyways, we'll be working together to create an epic story from here on out, maybe even one I can use to write a grand song or two for my first real bardic performance outside of Candlekeep. So, nice working with you, Mr. Journal. I should make sure I have everything I need for the trip, now.

I wonder what Gorion could be thinking, Mr. Journal. Here I am, about to buy supplies and leave on a journey, but he won't tell me why. Not even a hint or something. And after he sprung it on me all sudden-like, too. I'd spend more time writing, but I've really got to finish packing. I'll tell you more when we get on the road, okay, Mr. Journal?

Day 1, Hour 7

Gorion is dead. Killed by someone who was after me. A big scary man in armor, he was. Gorion told me to run, and I did, but I'm. I'm not sure if it was right, Mr. Journal. I don't know what's going on, and I don't like it, not one bit. I managed to escape with my life, but I'm pretty sure those guys'll be back. Why is all this happening?

I woke up this morning with Immy all up in my face. Turns out she snuck out and followed us. Should've expected as much. I'm real glad she's here though. Said something about a letter, and how Gorion might still have it on him. We should probably go to the place he fell last night anyway. He deserves a proper burial and all, at least. After that, we'll head to the Friendly Arm Inn. Gorion said he had friends there. I'll write again later, Journal, if I'm still alive by then. Can't be too sure of that, what with all these big scary armor guys and assassins hiding in buildings and all.

Day 1, Hour 16

It's raining something fierce. We're stuck under this outcropping of rock that overhangs the road until the storm passes. I might as well tell you what's happened so far, though I might be kinda hurried and sloppy in my writing 'cause I'm dead tired. Didn't get very good sleep last night and I've just about used up all my energy even though it's only afternoon.

We're traveling with two new guys now. Couple of creepy fellas what's named Xzar and Montaron. They helped Immy and me out earlier by giving us some healing potions, then said it'd only be right for us to help them in return and go to Nashkel with them to investigate something or somewhat. I dunno, they were kinda vague about that. I told them we were already going to meet some folks in the Friendly Arm Inn, and they said they'd go with us if we went to Nashkel after. I don't much like it and I can't shake the feeling I'm being used, but at the same time, it'd be real dangerous to try and go anywhere alone, just me and Immy.

We got some directions from a strange old man in red on the way, just after lunch. Nice to know there are strangers out there willing to help out and all. Had to go offroad to look for shelter when the rain started, though. Found a caravan what had been overturned by bandits, but no shelter. We gave up after a wolf attacked us, seeing that it'd probably be dangerous to wander in the wilderness much longer after that. Luckily, we found this place right by the road. Might as well rest here a while, the storm's only getting worse.

Day 2, Hour 8

We were attacked by a wolf last night! Luckily, Xzar had it under control and blasted it with some spells. I was surprised to find out he was a mage, but really, looking back, that's kind of a dumb thing to be. Surprised, I mean, considering he's wearing robes and all that. I mean what kind of guy runs around in big flowy wizardy robes if he's not a wizard? Then again, I wouldn't put it past Xzar to go running' around in big flowy wizardy robes even if he wasn't one. He's not really...all there.

You know, earlier when we were fighting a gibberling, he just laughed all weird like and said something about being death. I gave him a look. Montaron told me it is best just not to question these things, and that Xzar is just being his 'usual annoying self'. I still don't get it though.

Anyways, even after the rain stopped, we decided to just set up camp and stay there for the night, since it was dark and hard to see and all that. We're about to set off again, right after we get some breakfast in us. I hope we make it to the Friendly Arm soon.

* * *

A/N: So we're ending here for this chapter. Next time, Linn makes it to the Friendly Arm Inn! Stay tuned, and please leave a review if you like it or have comments!


	2. Chapter 2: The Friendly Arm Inn

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get chapter 2 out. I've been a bit busy with life recently. Anyways, from here on out, I've decided to rewrite each segment word by word while referring to the original document, because I heard it was a better technique than editing to catch awkward wording and to find out where stuff needs to be taken out or added. It also has the added bonus of meaning I don't have to spend a bucketload of time fixing the horrendous formatting that the original document had after copypasting it from the personal in-game journal.

* * *

Day 2, Hour 17

We've made it! We've finally made it! And here's the best part – Gorion's friends were planning on going to Nashkel too! So, we're gonna travel as one big group! Isn't that great?

Khalid and Jaheira both seem real nice. They said Gorion would've wanted them looking after me, and to be honest, Mr. Journal, I'm perfectly fine with that. Me and Immy, we've spent all our lives in Candlekeep. I don't know the first thing about what it's like out here, except that there're apparently assassins. Lots of assassins. Too many assassins. We've had it real tough just trying to get here. Having someone who knows how stuff works out here, and isn't all creepy and suspicious like Xzar and Montaron are … well, let's just say I'm glad for it, Mr. Journal.

Speaking of assassins, we ran into another one just outside the inn what tried to kill me! Would've been a goner but for Xzar and Montaron's help. There may be something off about them, but they sure are useful to have around. We found out from a note we got off the guy's body that some asshole's gone and put a price on my head. I'm not sure what anyone would want with me, though, Mr. Journal. I've done nothing. This is my first time ever outside Candlekeep's walls, and all I ever did in there was read stories, write songs, imagine what it'd be like to be one of them great bards what made those epics about all the old heroes. Oh, and chores. I did those too. Old Winthrop and Reevor always made me do those. But, I seriously doubt all this is about those rats I killed, Mr. Journal. Even if their relatives wanted revenge or something, they couldn't hire assassins. I mean, they're rats. They only speak Rat. Ain't ever met anyone what could speak Rat. Except maybe a wererat, but I've never met one of those.

But anyways, I've met with up with Gorion's old friends, just like he said to do if something bad happened, so things should be fine for now, I think. Jaheira says we're leaving first thing in the morning tomorrow, and that I should get a good night's sleep tonight so I'll be all fresh for the road and whatnot. We've all rented out rooms for the night, and they're all real nice. Even nicer than my room back in Candlekeep!

I did have a bit of trouble finding my room, though. Accidentally walked in on a couple of people before finding the right one. The first time, I barged in on some poor lady what called herself Unshey, says she's a writer. She wasn't happy with me at first, but we ended up talking for a while. She told me about some ogre what had stolen her Girdle of Piercing. I said I'd keep an eye out for it when I left tomorrow, but that my group had somewhere to go so we probably wouldn't have time to go off looking for it or anything. I know I might be a bad person for thinking this, Mr. Journal, but I really hope we don't find the ogre what took her girdle. I don't think I can handle myself against an ogre. I've seen them in pictures before, and they're just so big! He'd probably crush me to goo before I could hit him even once! I think Unshey understood our situation, though.

The second guy I accidentally walked in on thought I was the cleaning lady, of all things, and he went and tried to shove a pair of gold pants right in my face. It was real awkward, Mr. Journal. He didn't even apologize, you know. Just 'thanked' me for not running off with his ridiculous pants and stealing them. Who the heck would even want such garish things!?

Anyways, I'm in my room for the night now, and I've been studying these scrolls we got off that wizard. They really don't make much sense to me right now, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it someday. Me, casting magic. Could you even _imagine_ , Mr. Journal?

I would so make the coolest wizard.

Day 3, Hour 10

So this morning I came downstairs to get some breakfast, and this total jerk of a half-orc mistook me for a barmaid, then acted like it was all my fault when he found out I wasn't! Rude. Anyway, it took a while for Khalid and Jaheira to come downstairs, so I talked with the others for a while. Well, to Immy, at least. Xzar and Montaron went off to talk in private. Kept shooting weird looks back at us, though. There's something that ain't right about those two, Mr. Journal. I just don't know what.

When Khalid and Jaheira showed up, they told us more about what's going on in Nashkel, at least what they've heard. Apparently, Nashkel's where a lot of our iron comes from up here on the Sword Coast, and a lot of that iron's been going bad. Swords breaking a touch, cups crumbling to dust with the drink still in them, that sort of thing. It's wild. I'd heard something about iron problems from a few travelers, back when I was in Candlekeep, but I never really knew what it was about. Didn't seem to be a problem that reached there. So, anyway, that's why Khalid and Jaheira are going to Nashkel. Something sinister's going on there, and some group they're part of sent them to go investigate. I asked them what group, but they wouldn't tell me. Xzar and Montaron came over during about the middle of the explanation to listen. Montaron says that he and Xzar are going for the same reason. But, he won't tell me who they work for, either. All I know, Mr. Journal, is that it sounds like something real big is going on, and I don't got much of a choice but to end up all involved with it. I mean, what else am I gonna do? Stay behind and wait for more assassins to find me? I don't much like that option.

After the meal, I treated everyone to a rousing epic performance of one of my very most favorite poems, because I am just the best bard. I don't think they appreciated it though. Except maybe Xzar, he seemed to like it. Then again, he could've been giggling and clapping about something else entirely. I won't even pretend to know what goes on in that man's head.

Jaheira's off right now to leave a small donation at the temple, says she does it every time she visits because she knows the head priestess or something. We'll be heading off once we get back.

* * *

A/N: And that's it for now! Next time, the group will be leaving for Nashkel! If you like it, feel free to subscribe and/or review. If you don't like it, I guess you can still do that stuff if you want to. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Non-constructive criticism that just says stuff like "this sucks" and doesn't say why will be met with a roll of the eyes and a shrug.


	3. Chapter 3: The Road to Nashkel

A/N: I should probably warn you know that the playthrough this is based on is a core-rules game with no reloads unless a reload is forced by a TPK. So, characters can get chunked. For those of you that haven't played the game, and are in this fandom through a friend that plays it or something, sometimes a character will get killed so bad they can't be revived at a temple. We call that 'chunked'. And because I'm playing a soft no-reloads run, where I can only reload if I actually get a game over, chunked characters are gonna stay chunked. Why am I bringing this up? Because someone's about to get chunked in this chapter, and they're not gonna be the last. I will update the description of the fic to warn about this. But if you can't stand character death, here's your warning to get out now. Because that's gonna be thing.

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Day 4, Hour 0

We've been traveling all day, and we made it to Beregost tonight. I think that means we're halfway to Nashkel or something like that. Wasn't anything that eventful on the way in, just a couple gibberlings and some bandits what attacked us, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. I'm still not used to this whole 'fighting' thing, though, Mr. Journal. When we got to the inn tonight, some drunk guy attacked us for being adventurers. Montaron. Um. Montaron stabbed him. There. There was so much blood, Mr. Journal. It was all on the floor and on Montaron's hands and everything. He didn't have to stab him. I don't see why we couldn't have just tried to talk it out. Then again, I guess maybe that's not really a good idea when the drunk guy has a knife and stuff. I'm still upset it came to that, though. I don't like it when people get hurt. Not at all.

Oh! Something exciting happened back this morning, though. We weren't five minutes out of the Friendly Arm Inn when Immy saw something sparkling under a tree! It was a ring of some sort, half buried in the dirt. We think it's magic, but we haven't had time to get it identified yet. Jaheira says we can do that tomorrow. We're probably going to stay a day or so in Beregost, to rest up and restock and whatnot. Jaheira says that the stretch from Beregost to Nashkel is way more dangerous than the more northerly part of the road, so we gotta be prepared and stuff. But we don't have to worry about that until tomorrow, okay? Now it is very late, and it is time for sleeping. Nothing more.

Good night, Mr. Journal.

Day 4, Hour 10

As it turns out, restocking and preparing ourselves for the road took a lot less time than I thought it would. I always thought that sort of thing would take a few days, but I guess a morning is enough. Jaheira made us all get up real early so we could get going before it got too late in the day. We'll be back on the road right after lunch. Jaheira says we shouldn't waste any time. And Xzar and Montaron agree with her too. That's weird, because they usually don't agree with each other. There was a lot of shouting between them back on the road to Beregost, and Monty got in an argument with Khalid last night over the whole stabbing thing. It was loud. Anyway, we're just about done stocking up. We found the temple and the smithy easy enough, and got most of what we need there.

Also – I'd better write this down in case I need to remember it later – I heard from a priest at the temple that there's some crazy evil cleric with a price on his head running loose and killing people. So, we should keep an eye out and be careful and stuff. I don't wanna run into that guy.

P.S. Immy got the ring identified at the smithy while Jaheira was haggling for arrows. She only told me about it though, pretended she lost it on the way there. She says it's a ring what can double the spells a mage can cast! She's worried, though, that if she went and told the group, then Xzar would've ended up with it, and she doesn't trust Xzar with something like that. That's why she lied. Can't say I blame her.

Day 4, Hour 16

I'm scared, Mr. Journal.

On our way here, we ran into the most horrible creatures – Jaheira called them 'ogrillons', half ogres or something – and they. They killed Montaron! I can't say I was all that fond of the little jerk, or that I trusted him any farther than I could throw him, but that doesn't mean I wanted him to die! That's too much! I mean, one second he was there, being a jerk to all of us, and the next, he's smeared all over the ground, can't even recognize him. It's just. It's too much. None of my adventure stories ever said anything about this part.

Just now, I've been thinking about how easy it is to, well, lose someone, you know? Why do people have to die, Mr. Journal? I don't like it. Not at all. No more. Just. No more. We have to protect each other. We gotta survive. All of us. We just gotta.

Xzar … doesn't seem too cut-up about his friend's death. Actually, he's in a pretty good mood about it. It is the weirdest thing ever and I don't see how he can take this so light. He is so unnerving, Mr. Journal. He's singing right now. About rabbits. Montaron just died!

We buried what was left of Montaron before moving on. Least we can do is make sure the wild animals don't get at him. Gods, Mr. Journal, I think I'm gonna throw up.

We've stopped a bit further down the road for a quick dinner, can't travel if we don't eat. After that we're moving on to Nashkel. Jaheira says if we hurry we can make it there tonight. I can smell the food cooking from here.

It smells terrible. I knew it was a mistake to let Immy cook.

Day 5, Hour 7

I'm sorry, Mr. Journal, I was so damn tired after the crap we had to put up with after reaching Nashkel that I just fell in my bed without writing. Here's what you missed.

We got into Nashkel real late at night, and the guards stopped us at the town entrance, had to check us out first, make sure we weren't bandits or anything. Apparently, there've been lots of suspicious guys around recently. On our way to the inn, we met a nice monk all the way from Calimshan named Rasaad who agreed to help us out after hearing about why we'd come here to Nashkel. He serves Selune, and has a real beautiful philosophy on how to live life. I feel like things are already a lot calmer with him around. Khalid seems to be glad to have a fellow Calishite in the party, too. It's so nice when people get along.

Of course, soon as we set food in the inn, another one of them damn assassins showed up. Looks like the price on my head has gone up by about 400 gold, by the way. Anyway, she caused a lot of trouble, and ruined the evening for several bar patrons just trying to have a drink in peace. Seriously, who casts an Entangle spell indoors!? The fight was tough, but we managed to pull through. No thanks to me, though. I got hit with a Hold Person spell early on, so I didn't help much. One second I'm trying to get my quarterstaff out and the next, wham! Can't move. Was real scary. Also, a bit embarrassing. Couldn't do much but watch the whole fight.

Today, we're going to talk to Berrun Ghastkill, the mayor of Nashkel. We're leaving to go see him right after breakfast. Don't know what comes after that, though.

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A/N: And we'll stop there for this chapter. As always, feedback is appreciated. I'm not the most experienced writer, and I'd like to improve. And, if you like it, please fav, subscribe, and/or review~!

Next time, our ragtag band of not-quite-heroes will meet with the mayor and begin their investigation into the iron crisis.


	4. Chapter 4: Into the Mines

A/N: Sorry this took so long, things have been pretty busy recently with the holidays coming up. I'm aware I haven't updated my other fic in even longer, but I will as soon as I can get over my massive writer's block for that story. But this story is, well, another story. I hope you're ready for the longest chapter yet, because this is the longest chapter yet. I've decided to start putting lines in between individual journal entries, to better divide them up and make them easier to read. Let me know if it's working out for you.

* * *

Day 5, Hour 12

So, turns out we're supposed to go investigate the Nashkel Mines. We talked to Berrun Ghastkill, and he gave us the lowdown on the situation. There's been tainted iron what's been coming up from its depths, and that's why metal stuff in these parts has been crumbling and breaking recently. Got everyone on edge, it does. And it's our job to get to the bottom of what's going on. We've come all the way out here, but that jerk of a foreman won't let us in to investigate. Says it's too dangerous down there. Apparently the last guy what went down there to investigate a couple months ago never came back, and on top of that, for the last few weeks the miners have been going on about demon sightings. Sounds scary down there, Mr. Journal. It's really got me thinking. If it's too dangerous in the mines for adventurers and sellswords and the like, then why in the Hells are they still making the miners go down there and risk themselves just to pull up more bad iron!? Doesn't make a lick of sense, if you ask me.

Anyways, Jaheira's talking to the foreman right now, trying to negotiate. Hopefully she'll get somewhere. In the meantime, I'm just gonna sit here and keep writing. Not much else to do in this pit.

Oh! We stopped to have a conversation with a really nice friendly guy who had a lot to say while we were on our way out of Nashkel. He was very excited to hear about our adventures and things. For some reason, though, everyone else looked annoyed. Can't for the life of me imagine why. Things got weird after that though, when the guy got all nervous and started asking if we were gonna throw rocks at him. Over and over. I wonder what made him think that.

Oh, also, also, we stopped at the store to stock up on provisions and whatnot, and I got me a real weapon! No more glorified stick! It's a warhammer, and I can't wait to learn to use it good!

Once we left town, we got held up by a group of bandits on our way to the mines. They already had archers trained on us and everything! I was almost sure we were dead meat there, Mr. Journal, but then we were saved by the timely arrival of . . . the same guy what thought I was a serving wench at the Friendly Arm Inn! I'm for sure it was him! Turns out he's out for revenge, and for some reason he's heard of me and thinks it might be helpful for us to work together. But we were all busy and on the way to the mines, so I told him some other time maybe. We ain't got time to be going chasing after some stranger's revenge fantasies. He says he'll be at the Friendly Arm if we change our minds. Fat chance I'm ever gonna help him, though, Mr. Journal. He still rubs me the wrong way. Call me a serving wench. Pah!

Looks like Jaheira's convinced the foreman to let us in the mines. Gotta go for now. I'll write you later, Mr. Journal!

* * *

Day 5, Hour 16

We've lost Xzar. If only we'd been more prepared-! The damn mine is full of stinkin' kobolds. I can only hope the rest of us make it out alive.

Gods. This is all my fault, isn't it. If I'd gone and made Immy give Xzar that ring, then maybe he'd . . . No. No, I can't go down that road now. For now I've gotta concentrate on helping the other, or else we'll all end up the same way. Why's everything got to be so damn dark, Mr. Journal? It's not supposed to be this way. It's not. I won't believe it.

We can't go no further today. I'm hurt real bad and need to rest, and Jaheira's all out of spells. She says she'll heal me as soon as she has them prepared again.

So many damn kobolds down here...

...This _sucks_.

* * *

Day 6, Hour 8?

I'm feeling a lot better now that I've been healed and all. Man, am I glad Jaheira's with us, if she weren't we'd all be done for by now. I still feel like there's a weight in my chest though. I keep seeing Xzar die over and over when I close my eyes. I've been trying to block it out, but it's hard, Mr. Journal. I. I want to make sure this never happens again. But, I'm not quite sure how to go about that. I mean, I know a little about how to fight, and I do what I can to help Khalid and Jaheira and all, but when it comes to protecting others, I don't know. I just feel so damn helpless. Maybe I'm not cut out for this.

But it's not like I've got much of a choice. What else am I gonna do? Stay behind in town and wait patiently for more of them assassins to find me? Cut out for it or not, this is my life now. Can only keep pushing on.

Anyways, this morning at breakfast, or at least I think it's morning, kind of hard to tell what with us being underground and all. But, this morning, Rasaad noticed that I was a little bothered by recent events and all. Okay, well, a lot bothered. We spent some time talking, and it really helped. A lot. Probably the only reason I only complained to you for a few sentences instead of for a few pages, Mr. Journal. He ended up telling me about how he became a monk, and what he was doing all the way up here in the North. It sounds like he's had a tough time of it. Almost enough to make me feel ashamed of all the whining I've been doing, Mr. Journal. I'm not the only one who's got it bad, after all.

We should probably get going. We've gotta get to the bottom of what's going on in these mines, so we can get the Hells out of here already!

* * *

Day 6, Hour 9?

It's only been an hour but we have to stop again already! Jaheira's used all her healing spells again, and the kobolds put several arrows through Immy! Oh, are we ever getting out of here!?

* * *

Day 7, Hour ?

We're finally ready to get on the move again. Took even longer than it should have since more kobolds found us while we were resting, and we had to take them out all while protecting Immy, who was still hurt from the last fight. Thank Tymora she's all right.

At least there've been no more deaths since Xzar's. I don't think I could stand anyone else dying. It's just too much. You know, Mr. Journal, I don't even know what time it is right now. Day, night, it all gets all jumbled up and smooshed together when there's no sun to help you keep track.

* * *

Still Day 7.

Between kobolds and giant spiders with nasty poison, we're out of resources again. We're down to our last potion, Jaheira's used up all her spells, and she and Khalid are in awful shape. It's like we spend more time hiding away and trying to heal ourselves than we do actually moving forward. It's starting to feel awful repetitive.

It's enough to make a girl's morale just sink down into the mud.

* * *

Day 7? 8? Probably 8 by now, we've been stopped a long time.

Khalid and Jaheira are as good as new now, Finally, we can keep moving. I feel as if I've been sitting around on the nasty damp floor forever. At least I made some more progress trying to figure out these darn scrolls, so I'm that much closer to maybe learning magic! Tiny silver linings, Mr. Journal, tiny silver linings.

* * *

Day 8?

Damn kobolds and their stupid flaming arrows stupid kobolds suck stupid stupid kobolds I hate them and they need to stop having flaming arrows stupid damn kobolds stupid stupid stupid-

I just bumped into Khalid 'cause I wasn't watching where I was going. I'm sorry, Mr. Journal. I can't write in you while I'm walking no more.

* * *

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's Day 8 now.

Whew! It's over, Mr. Journal! We finally found the guy responsible for all of this! Some half-orc cleric of Cyric called Mulahey, hiding out on this cave on an island in the middle of an underground lake. Hell of a secret base, huh? Who'd have thunk something like this would even be down here? It's wild!

Anyway, we made him pay for what he'd done to the iron in the mines, and for making us go through all that grief to find him. I mean, of course we tried to talk to him first, do this the peaceful way, but he was having none of that. And then, when we nearly had him beat, he changed his tune and said we could stop fighting and talk like civilized people. But it was a trick! He used it to distract us and call more of his goons to surround us! Messed us up but good! Now it may be wrong of me, Mr. Journal, but I took real pleasure introducing him to my warhammer after that bullshit, let me tell you. My warhammer is boss. It hammers the boss. It's a _bosshammer_.

We found some letters and from looking at them it's clear Mulahey was just a lackey of some guy with a bigger plan. I guess I'll ask Jaheira what that all means for us sometime after we get back to Nashkel and all. Right now, though, our main concern should be getting out of here. Just gonna stop in long enough for Jaheira to cast some healing spells and then it's back to Nashkel. Nothing keeping us in this dung heap anymore.

We found lots of loot in Mulahey's lair, though. Some cool boots, and a magic shortsword, which is good, since Immy's broke in the battle. There's another sword in there too, real pretty and all, but we can't pick it up. Immy tried and it straight up wouldn't budge. Best to just leave it there. Found some potions and a lot of scrolls too. They'll come in handy.

Huh?

...Hold on, Mr. Journal. Noises. In the other room. Gonna go check it out. If I'm not back in ten minutes, avenge my death. I know you can. Just. Give them papercuts or something, okay?

* * *

A/N: And thus ends the trek through the Nashkel Mines. Next time, our heroes make a new friend or five! Okay. Well. Definitely less than five. Probably just one. Maybe two, depending on the length of the next chapter. And remember, if you like this, please fave, subscribe, and/or review! And if you hate this, then send flames! I will remain unbothered. Until next time, ladies and germs, until next time.


	5. Chapter 5: Xan

A/N: Since I didn't get this chapter out within ten minutes of the last one, I sincerely hope each one of you avenged my death. Or at the very least, avenged Linn's death. Naw, I'm just messing with you, Linn's alive, everything's fine, and we're set to move on with the story. Have fun!

* * *

Day 8, Hour ?

 _(The following scrawl is barely legible.)_

Back. Still alive. No need to avenge death. Will write later. Stuff going on.

* * *

Day 8, Hour 5

Finally, we're out! Looks to be just before daybreak. To think, in a couple of hours there'll be the sun and all, and things'll be all bright and good again.

Right, right, I know, you probably wanna know what happened, right, Mr. Journal? Well, turns out some of the kobold goons Mulahey called during the fight had run off to the next room once they realized they were outnumbered and all, and they were tormenting some poor elf guy what was all tied up. So we beat the kobolds and freed the guy, right? He says his name is Xan. He's a wizard and he's been held prisoner here for more than two months. Poor guy, no wonder he looks so damn haggard. Oh, and that weird sword from before, the one what Immy couldn't even pick up? That's his. Called a 'moonblade' or something, and only he can use it. Kind of strange, though. Wizard with a sword.

Anyways, he was hurt pretty bad but Jaheira was out of spells after the fight, so all she could do was to bind his wounds real good so he weren't bleeding no more. Lucky for us, Xan knew about a back exit, real close to where we were. He'd overheard Mulahey talking about it. So we followed him out. Had to fight a couple of oozes on the way though. And the damn tunnel collapsed behind us. We barely made it out okay. But, we're fine now. We can rest, and Jaheira can prepare her spells, and then we can go back to Nashkel and figure out what to do next.

Xan's coming with us. Turns out he was sent here all the way from his elfy city of Ever-Something-or-Other to investigate the iron crisis, just like what we're doing. So, we've decided to band together for now. There's safety in numbers, after all, though Xan says that no matter how many of us there are, it's a futile endeavor and it's doomed from the start. He really doesn't have a very good attitude about things, Mr. Journal. Then again, the man's been stuck down in those mines for two and a half months, so I guess I can't blame him for being in a bad mood. I mean, I'd be too, if I were him.

* * *

Day 8, Hour 21

We've been resting here for a while. I've been studying some of these scrolls some more, and I actually got one figured out, I think! I'm pretty sure I can cast Magic Missile now. Can't wait to try it out. The others are still a little confusing, though. Maybe I'll ask Xan for help once we get back to Nashkel and he's had some time to recover and all. I mean, he's a wizard, he probably knows all about this kind of stuff, right?

Oh, speaking of Xan. He. He actually cried when the sun came up, you know. He hadn't seen it for so long. I'm pretty sure they were tears of joy but it still kind of made my chest hurt a little to watch him, and I don't know why. Maybe because I feel kind of bad for him. I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like, being trapped down there for so long. I mean, I was in those mines for all of two days and I thought I was about to go mad!

Anyways, I really didn't do much today. I went and had a quick nap around noon while we were waiting for Jaheira to finish preparing her spells. Like, I just lay down on the ground and napped. Was real nice. Got dust in my hair, though. That was a bit less nice. After that, I talked to Rasaad for a bit. He told me something about how we're all connected through the light or something. Real deep stuff. I get the feeling most of it went right over my head, though I tried to keep up, Mr. Journal, I really did. He said something about my inner light too – something about my 'allure' drawing others to me. I gotta admit, I blushed a little at that, Mr. Journal. I think he was trying to say I was charming or something, but I can't be all the way sure, since a lot of the time those sophisticated, pretty kind of words he uses slip right by me before I can figure out what they mean. It's a bit upsetting. I'm a damn bard, I should be better with words than this.

Though, you know what, Mr. Journal? I'm pretty sure that when it comes to inner light, he's got me beat.

Anyway, I think everyone's about ready to go back to Nashkel, if we can find where that is. Everything around here looks way unfamiliar. The ground is dry and cracked, and there's big spiky plants everywhere. I've never seen anything like it before. I guess we'll just take our best guess, pick a direction, and start walking. I sure hope we can see our way around all right. The sun's already down, and it's only like to get darker from here. Jaheira says we've already lost enough time, though, and we're less likely to run into bandits at night besides. Wish us luck, Mr. Journal!

* * *

Day 9, Hour 18.

We spent all last night walking through the wilderness. We stopped beneath some trees somewhere to rest for an hour or so right before sunrise, but kept going after that. Jaheira was right about the whole no bandits thing, we didn't get attacked by anything at all during the whole trip! This morning, we made it back to Nashkel, or, the carnival outside of Nashkel, anyway.

We decided to look around a bit and do some shopping before going back to town, since it was early and there was so much there to see. There was one man reciting poetry, and another who mimicked our every word. There was even a wizard who told us he could show us the world's only exploding ogre! I admit I was a little curious, Mr. Journal, but in the end I told him I didn't want to see it. Making an ogre explode just for fun sounds like a pretty mean thing to do, after all. I think I'd end up feeling sorry for the ogre. From the others' reactions, I don't think they much wanted to see an ogre explode either. Except Immy, she seemed pretty interested in the exploding ogre, but I talked to her and she agreed that it did seem kind of mean. Like kicking a puppy. A really big ugly puppy that could probably smash you into a puddle of goo, but still.

We did find some pretty cool stuff for sale in the tents, though. We're going to have to come back sometime when we've got more coin to spread around. But, in one of the tents, there was a crazy wizard trying to kill a lady for being a witch, which already makes no sense. He thought she was going to use her magic to kill all the cows and seduce all the young men, which, honestly, sounds like something a villain out of a children's storybook would do, not someone in real life. I tried to tell him he had probably read one too many stories for his own good and that maybe he shouldn't go around trying to kill random shopkeepers. I mean, this lady was terrified and not even fighting back. I'm pretty sure if she'd been some powerful evil witch she would've used her magic to defend herself.

Of course, the crazy wizard didn't listen to reason. He just got mad at us for questioning whether the lady was really an evil witch and attacked us. He knew a lot of really scary spells. Next thing we knew, half of us had been hit with acid arrows, and it wouldn't stop burning. I heard some of the others screaming. I was lucky, I didn't get hit, but then he cast a spell at me, and I just got real scared all of a sudden. I couldn't help but run around and scream and try to get as far away from him as I could. Turns out most of the others got hit by the same fear spell, and it was just Xan and Rasaad left to take him down. Somehow they managed to win, but they were both near-dead at the end of it all. They probably would've been done for if Jaheira hadn't healed them after. Was a real relief that she could help them. I don't think I could handle any more death.

Those two are real brave, though, Mr. Journal, protecting all of us like that. Especially Rasaad, he was getting all up in that guy's face, up close and personal, even when he was fixing to just fall over right there! Oh, and the lady was real grateful for the help, too.

After we were sure Rasaad and Xan weren't going to keel over or anything, we went back to Nashkel and reported back to the mayor, who gave us a really big cash reward. I don't think I've ever seen so much money in my life, Mr. Journal. Of course, Jaheira's holding on to it for safekeeping for now. She is the leader, after all.

There was another assassin waiting for us outside the inn. This time it was a mage who threw axes. I'm not even joking. I wish I was. We beat him up good though. The town guards helped. Turns out they don't take kindly to assassins attacking people in the streets in broad daylight. We're inside the inn now. Xan's still kind of freaking out over what happened. I . . . may have forgotten to tell him about the whole assassins being after me thing, and all. What with all the goings on, it just plain slipped my mind. I really hope he stops shouting about it sometime soon. People are starting to stare at us.

Anyway, Mr. Journal, I am dead tired and I think I'm just going to go to bed now. I really hope the walls are thick enough that if Xan keeps carrying on out here in the main room, I won't hear it.

* * *

A/N: And there's another chapter done. Next time, join our heroes as they develop a plan of action for the days ahead. And as always, if you like the story, please favorite, subscribe, and/or review! Toodles!


	6. Chapter 6: Dreams

A/N: Man, I'm really getting these out fast for once. Just in case anyone notices it, it's not a mistake that Linn's first dream was not the "good aligned" one but the second one was. In-game, I recruited Dorn for all of ten seconds so he'd be there at the Friendly Arm if I ever changed my mind and decided to bring him along. I did not realize the reputation loss stayed, and that is why Linn, despite not having done anything bad, got the neutral dream and never got the first of the two Cure Light Wounds abilities. The way the party handled Prism brought their reputation up enough that at least the second dream was the good aligned one. Until this playthrough, I'd always assumed the dreams were based on alignment, not reputation. Anyways, now that I'm done with that little aside, I bring you chapter 6. Enjoy.

* * *

Day 10, Hour 8

I had a real bad dream last night. I kept seeing Gorion die, over and over, the same scene from last week, and it just wouldn't stop. I woke up screaming. Immy must have heard me from the next room over, because she showed up pretty soon after I woke up saying it'd sounded like someone was being murdered. And, well, I guess someone was, in my dreams at least, and -

I don't want to write about this anymore, Mr. Journal. I'll just move on, if that's okay.

I was fooling around with another scroll this morning while I was waiting for the others to get up and come into the main room, and somehow I managed to summon a familiar! I thought that was only for real wizards, but I guess my studying's gone and made me just magic enough for it. Oh, he's just the best familiar, Mr. Journal. He's just like a little mini-dragon, with his little wings, and his little snout, and the little tiny spikes on his head. He is the most adorable and I am going to take the best care of him ever. He's asleep in my pack right now. He likes it in there since it's all warm and whatnot.

Anyways, we discussed what to do next over breakfast this morning, and Jaheira says we need to keep a low profile and not go to Beregost right away to investigate this "Tranzig" guy what's referenced in Mulahey's letters. She says we might draw too much attention to ourselves if we make a big stink and go where the letters say he is right away, and he might get wind of our coming there or something.

And, I think she has a point. We can't afford to bungle this up. See, we found a letter on the assassin what attacked us last night, Mr. Journal. Another bounty notice. And apparently they're not just out for my blood anymore. They've put a bounty on all our heads now. And, well, Tranzig was mentioned in that note too. Signed by someone called Tazok. Mulahey said that name too, just before we fought him. Thought at first he'd been the ones what sent us. Must be his boss or something.

So basically, Mr. Journal, I'm more caught up in this than I thought. And, if the guys what're messing with the iron are the same ones what've been tracking me down and trying to get me killed, then that means they know who we are. Not only that, since it's pretty clear from this bounty notice they know about Khalid and Jaheira and the others, they've probably got spies watching us. So we can't act too rashly.

Xan mentioned he'd overheard some things about Tranzig while he was being held captive down in the mines. Says he's some sort of middleman, relayed messages between Mulahey and his superiors. Mulahey apparently didn't like him much. Xan also said he'd heard Mulahey was fixing to send word to Tranzig about something important, status update on his iron-sabotaging plan or something, about a week from now. He suggested we wait until then and then go there in disguise and pretend to be sent by Mulahey, messengers and whatnot, and that if we did it that way there'd be slightly less chance of our being caught and killed. He made a pretty big effort to emphasize the "slightly" part of that, though.

The others thought it was a good idea, so we're going to stay around Nashkel for a few days, check in town to see if anyone has any odd jobs what we could help with, maybe explore a bit, get a feel for the surrounding area. Feels nice to have things not be so hurried for a bit.

* * *

Day 10, Hour 21

So some guy mistook me for a famous bounty hunter this morning, Greywolf or somesuch, but I told him he'd made a mistake. Turns out the guy is the town bounty man, name of Oublek, and he's looking for Greywolf because he's got some money waiting to be collected for the last job he did. After that, he told us about all the bounties what hadn't been collected yet, and we ended up going on a bounty hunt ourselves. Kind of funny when you think about it, considering last night we were the hunted ones. By lawless assassins, sure, but still, it makes me chuckle a little. I guess all this crap what's been going on since I left Candlekeep has mucked with my sense of humor a bit, had it take a turn for the morbid, that sort of thing.

Anyways, where was I? Right, we took on a job from the bounty man. Basically, this artist guy, Prism, stole some emeralds a few days ago, and our job was to bring him to justice and get the stones back. First thing we did was go down to the tavern, try to dig up some rumors about where Prism might've run off to. And of course, to get anything out of anyone, you got to buy some drinks, share some drinks, drink with folks! All sorts of drinking! So, we were all drinking, and talking, and I may have told a tale or two somewhere in there, but at first, we didn't hear nothing on this Prism guy. But, we did find out some interesting info about stuff in the area – a big waterfall to the west, bandit activity going crazy on the roads, Mayor Ghastkill's impressive hat collection, that sort of thing. Eventually, though, we talked to one man what'd seen him heading south, so south we went. Xan was acting real strange on the way out of town. Walking a little wobbly, talking weird, stuff like that. I. I think he might've been _tipsy_. Gods, but he's a lightweight!

It turns out the info we got was good, because we actually did find Prism. It turns out he was trying to complete this sculpture of this pretty elf lady, been carving it into this big cliff for ages, and he'd stole the emeralds to use for her eyes. He begged us to at least let him finish his sculpting before doing our work, as he was almost done and he'd been at it for so very long. Looked right pitiful, he did. I don't think anyone could've said no to that face. So, we decided we'd watch over him and make sure he finished before deciding what to do with him, and that's when the famous bounty hunter Oublek had mistaken me for showed up. And let me say, that guy looked absolutely nothing like me! Bounty man must've been hitting the sauce, I say! So, old Greywolf attacked us because he was a huge jerk what wanted us out of the way so he could take the bounty for himself. So, we had to defend ourselves, naturally.

Oh, and speaking of hitting the sauce, I count three spells Xan tried to cast at the guy during that fight what ended up hitting the ground and doing nothing. I'm telling you, Mr. Journal, the man was drunk! After only three drinks, too! Gods!

We managed to fend the guy off though, Xan's . . . issues aside. You should have seen that big scary bounty hunter's face when he realized he was beat and ran off to go lick his wounds. Soon after he left, Prism finished his sculpture. He looked at us, smiled the oddest smile, and then just . . . dropped dead on the spot. The man literally worked himself to death. That was some scary obsession he must have had with that elf lady. I may be a bard myself, but sometimes I don't think I'll ever understand artists.

So, after taking back the emeralds, we dug him a grave and gave him what short burial we could. He deserved at least that much. After that, with a real heavy feeling inside, we went back to town to hand the emeralds over to Oublek and collect the bounty. I can't help but feel sad about the whole episode, Mr. Journal. These last couple weeks, it feels like death follows me wherever I go. I don't think there's been even one day since I left Candlekeep that I haven't seen someone or something die. It really wears on a girl.

So when we got to Nashkel, we reported in to Oublek and got our pay. Whether the whole ordeal was worth it, I can't really say. After that, we headed back to the inn to rest. On the way there, Xan shouted loud enough for the whole damn town to hear that he felt insignificant. Gods. This is ridiculous. AFTER ONLY THREE DRINKS.

We should probably get our info some other way from now on, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 11, Hour 14

Damn nightmares. I had another one last night. This time it was about the mines. I saw Mulahey's ghost there. He looked scared. Pleading, almost. And then, there was a dagger made of bone just floating there in the darkness. When I saw it, I knew that if I stabbed him with it, even his ghost would be gone forever, and there'd be no trace of him left. Anywhere. Not anywhere on all the Planes. I picked it up, and I pointed it at him, and he looked at me with these big, wide, pitiful eyes. I almost did it, Mr. Journal. But when I got ready to, I felt my hands start to shake, and I knew I just couldn't. It was too much. So I dropped the dagger, and the ghost faded away. Moving on to whatever afterlife Cyric's followers go to, I guess. And then, the dagger rose up and ran me clean through. It was all scary, and weird, and there was this voice shouting at me that I would learn.

I woke up in a cold sweat, and something felt . . . different, but I can't quite put my finger on what. These dreams are the worst, Mr. Journal. I hope I can get a better sleep tonight. But right now, it's daytime, and I've got other things to think about.

Breakfast was . . . interesting, for want of a better word. Xan had a splitting headache, and he was moaning about it the whole time. Hangover, most likely. Told you he was drunk yesterday. I think he's pretty embarrassed about it, too – when Immy brought it up, he got all red and sputtery. Blushed right up to the tips of his ears, he did. It was actually kind of adorable, though I'd never say that to his face.

Oh! I got to sit next to Rasaad this morning. He was real quiet, but he looked like he was in a good mood.

I'm in a good mood too.

Wonder what we're gonna do today? It's nice to play things by ear for a bit, isn't it? We've been pretty lazy so far, though. It's past lunchtime, and we haven't even left the inn yet. We've mostly just been sitting in the common room chatting. Well, except Xan, he went back to his room right after breakfast to go lie down. You know, because of the hangover. We should probably get going as soon as he comes back out here.

* * *

A/N: And there we go. Tune in next time for more mucking around in the general Nashkel area, and as always, please fave, follow, and/ or review if you like what you're reading. Toodles!


	7. Chapter 7: Alas, Poor Bosshammer

A/N: Aaaaand we're back. I think now might be a good time to mention that this playthrough is the first time I've replayed Baldur's Gate in like ten years, and I don't remember where all the quest objectives are. And I feel like it ruins immersion to go look them up. I remember where most of the major stuff is, so any delay on getting to that is entirely intentional, but for sidequests that require you to go into the wilderness? There may be a bit of meandering and possibly even forays into the opposite direction, if the in-game info on where the objective is is on the vague side. I felt like that would seem more realistic, anyway, since I've found the whole 'laser guided plot seeking device' trope where the heroes just happen to always know exactly where to go a bit tired and overused. The journey is half the adventure, after all. Letting you know now, because the first of those meanderings is right here, in this chapter, as our heroes muddle around looking for Captain Brage. Good luck to them.

* * *

Day 11, Hour 22

So, we talked to the bounty man again, and this time we're after the murderous captain of the guard, Brage. Definitely someone what needs to be brought to justice. Apparently he went mad and killed a bunch of folk, then ran off into the wilderness with nary a word! From what I've heard, there are already other mercenaries after him, so we might not be the first ones what find him, but a criminal this bad calls for force in numbers. We've still got plenty of time before we have to head up to Beregost, so while we're here, we might as well do what we can to help with the search. We stopped by the carnival on our way out of town and used the reward we got yesterday to buy this necklace of missiles we were looking at the other day but didn't have the cash for at the time. It is the coolest thing ever. Rasaad's wearing it now. We all agreed he could make the best use of it, since Immy's gotta fight long ranged and would be more prone to accidental friendly fire using the thing because of it, Khalid's got his hands full, Jaheira and Xan already have their own spells they can use, and I got one spell I can use, plus my bard stuff and my bosshammer. Rasaad's mostly just got his fists.

Anyways, we're checking the surrounding area, as we've heard he's probably still somewhere in the wilderness surrounding Nashkel. So far, we've found nothing. Xan is convinced that this whole thing is a terrible idea and we're just begging to get ourselves killed, but what're we supposed to do, just let the guy keep wandering around killing people?

And speaking of killing, just thought you might like to know we've run into nothing what tried to kill us today. No fighting, no death. It's like a breath of fresh air.

It's gotten dark now, so we've set up camp. It's my turn to cook tonight, so I've got to leave you for now, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 12, Hour 6

We're getting an early start this morning so we can cover as much ground as possible before nightfall. We got less than a week to try bringing this guy to justice, so we can't waste any time. Gotta get to Beregost by the end of the week, after all. Khalid's making breakfast right now. Soon as we eat, we'll get going.

I'm going to stop here for now, Mr. Journal. Now seems as good a time as any to ask Xan for help with these confusing as Hells scrolls.

* * *

Day 12, Hour 19

Today was just full of adventure!

Right before breakfast, I showed Xan some of those scrolls, and asked him to help me figure them out. Well, soon as I started asking him about magical theory and whatnot, he just couldn't shut up! If I didn't know better, I'd say he was enjoying himself, even! Good to know there's something he really likes talking about other than, you know, death and doom and all.

Anyways, with his help, I learned a few new spells, and I can't wait to try using them! There were a couple of the scrolls even he couldn't muddle out though – turns out he knows next to nothing about the Evocation school. Can't even manage a Magic Missile. But, you know, that don't make him any less of a good mage, I think. Sure as hell still knows more spells than I ever will. I'm real glad I've got someone like him to help me out with learning magic and all, Mr. Journal, else I'd still be stuck on the basics!

Almost as soon as we actually got going, we ran into a farmer whose cow was being attacked by xvarts – these nasty little blue things what got the shrillest voices you've ever heard. So we jumped in to help him out. It was real easy after Xan dropped a sleep spell on them. It feels good to help people. Also cows. I'm real glad the cow is okay.

Aside from that little skirmish, though, it was a real pretty morning to be walking around in the wilderness, and pretty soon everyone was in high spirits. Immy was humming a bit and skipping, and Jaheira was less bossy than usual. It was great. Hells, even Xan was in a good mood. I caught him smiling a little, and I even pointed it out. Was half expecting him to just frown and deny it, then say something about doom, I mean that seems to be a thing he does, but he didn't. Instead he just said that around us, he almost felt like he had a chance. I just. Wow. You know, Mr. Journal, he actually has a real nice smile. It's a shame he doesn't do it more often. He'd probably have less wrinkles if he did.

Unfortunately, all of this was pretty short-lived, because right around that time we were attacked by a group of kobolds, and then Xan went all pale and just froze up. Wouldn't even fight. Never realized how terrified he was of them, not that I blame him, after what he's been through. Was a pretty easy fight even without his help, though. But it had the most _dire_ of consequences – my poor, poor bosshammer gave up the ghost. My faithful bosshammer, which has journeyed steadfast beside me since we first marched on the Nashkel Mines. A moment of silence please, Mr. Journal, for my bosshammer. I think I'm starting to tear up a little, here. Damn this iron crisis. My bosshammer will be avenged!

No, but seriously, Mr. Journal, now I'm gonna have to spring for a new one once we get back to town. I was saving my portion of the gold, dammit. And after we all chipped in to get that necklace, I've got precious little left.

After that, we got attacked by a whole bunch of things while we traveled around. A lot of them were ogres. So many damn ogres. Oh! That reminds me, the weirdest thing happened today. While we were fighting one of the ogres, Rasaad got hurt real bad, I remember seeing him drop to his knees, and then I remember crying out and going toward him. And then, something surged up inside me and there was this blinding flash of light. Next thing I knew, Rasaad wasn't hurt anymore. I still don't know how I did it, or how I knew I could, but I'm for sure now. I can _heal_ people! I think it has something to do with the dreams. I always feel like something's different after I wake up from them, like something new is there what wasn't before. If that makes any sense. Either way, I'm not like to complain. Not often that I'm the one what saves the day. Usually I just hang back and sing rousing tales of heroics to make everyone else fight better. What I'm trying to say is, magic battle songs are more my speed. That and hitting things with my bosshammer, and trying out these new spells. But I can only cast once a day, and my bosshammer – my bosshammer will be missed.

Oh! Can we talk about what a badass Khalid is? Because Khalid was a total badass today.! This one time we got attacked by at least three ogres, an ogrillon, and a whole bunch of hobgoblins, all at once! We were all surrounded, and I got hit with a poisoned arrow, and things were all blurry, but Khalid took out like two of them all by himself and made it possible to win. Made it look easy. It was amazing. You know, Mr. Journal, Khalid may be all stammery and jumpy all the time, but I ain't never seen a man what fights as bravely as he does. He is a very easy person to look up to, I'll say that much.

Being poisoned was no fun though. We didn't have any antidote, so I had to wait it out, and it hurt. A lot. Thought I was done for there. Rasaad looked after me while I recovered, and the others finished off the ogres. He is so very kind, Mr. Journal. So very kind.

We stopped for lunch around noon, when the sun was right overhead, but ate quick as possible before moving on. Afternoon was mostly uneventful, except for a holdup by some bandits what were so incompetent they were all nearly dropping their own bows. Those guys couldn't hit anything to save their lives. Our victory felt almost unfair.

We still haven't found Brage, though. We're stopping for the night now. Good thing, too. Me and Jaheira, we're both kind of beat up, and everyone is all but out of spells. We're starting to run low on supplies too. If we still haven't found him in a couple more days, we may have to go back to Nashkel to restock.

* * *

Day 13, Hour 11

Aw, sod, looks like we overslept, Mr. Journal. Jaheira says that to make up for lost time, we won't even stop to eat breakfast before moving on, and we'll just eat bread while we walk.

This sucks.

At least I didn't have any nightmares last night. I had a good sleep, which makes me real happy. Anyways, Mr. Journal, I'll wait until later to write any more. Wouldn't want to hold up the group and make Jaheira cross. She's kind of scary when she's cross.

* * *

Day 13, Hour 23

Today's been pretty easy going. Aside from a couple xvarts, we didn't run into anything what wanted to kill us. Mostly, it was just walking through some real pretty woods and stuff, and it was a real nice day, too.

Had a nice, long talk with Rasaad on the road. He told me a lot about his training at the monastery, and about his mission in Athkatla. And, about how his brother died. That part was definitely a lot less nice. I can tell it's really eating at him. Seems convinced if he'd done something his brother'd still be alive. Seems to me though that he did what he could and tried his hardest to follow the tenets of his faith. I wish I could say something to make him feel better, but when I try the words in my mouth just come out all jumbled and awkward. At more than one point today I just really wanted to give him a big hug and tell him things'd work out and that he did nothing wrong, but I didn't, because that would have been even more awkward. I just hope I can help, just by being there to listen. Maybe that's enough.

Either way, it's late, and it's best if I sleep for now. Everyone else has already turned in for the night.

* * *

Day 14, Hour 7

Getting up bright and early, as usual. I really hope we manage to track down Brage today. If we don't, we're heading back to Nashkel tonight to restock. We're already going in that direction, but maybe we'll run into him on the way? Would be nice to get this finished and see justice done.

We're just about to leave. I'll write you again tonight, Mr. Journal, and let you know how things went.

* * *

Day 15, Hour 12

Sorry for not writing earlier than this. After a long, fruitless search, we got into Nashkel so late at night that I just about dropped into bed once we got to the inn. And of course, we're off again, now that we've restocked and all. We're just stopping back at the inn for a quick lunch, then continuing our search. We'll be out for two more days, and if we don't find him by then, well then, we're just going to have to give up. I don't like it one bit, but by that time we'll be needing to head toward Beregost.

Here goes nothing, Mr. Journal.

* * *

A/N: I sincerely apologize for any emotional distress this chapter may have caused. After all, it contains the _saddest_ character death in the entire story. RIP Bosshammer, you will be missed. Immediately replaced next chapter, but missed nonetheless. Joking aside though, I hope I'm keeping your interest. Tune in next time as our intrepid heroes keep trying to track down Captain Brage. Success or failure, they'll have to move on to Beregost in two days. ShoujoOnmyouji, signing out.


	8. Chapter 8: Leader for a Day

A/N: And here is Chapter 8. It's a bit shorter than the ones before it, but I think the end of this one seemed like a natural stopping point. Advance warning, the next chapter may end up less than average in length as well, to avoid any mood whiplash between chapters 9 and 10. But I get the feeling I have already said too much, so on to the story proper!

* * *

Day 16, Hour 1

Gods, Mr. Journal, I'm so tired. We've been traveling all day and into the night, following the river south. Xan's hurt real bad – took several darts to the chest when we were fighting some creepy undead skeletons. It's a wonder they didn't hit anything vital. Jaheira's doing what she can to help him, but he's convinced this is the end – I'm really hoping this is just more of his doom and gloom thing – I want him to be okay, Mr. Journal, I really do. Khalid told me not to worry though, because Jaheira is a top-notch healer and all. But I can't help it, Mr. Journal. I just can't stand the thought of losing anyone else.

I want to sleep right now, but I can't. I'm too damn worried. Maybe after everything is for sure taken care of.

* * *

Day 16, Hour 9

Good morning, Mr. Journal. I didn't get much sleep last night at all, maybe a couple hours, tops. But, I'm still feeling like I'm ready to go and continue our search, even if by now, it looks like it might not come to anything.

Xan's okay. He's back on his feet and complaining just as loudly as ever. Gods, but I never thought I'd be glad to hear him shouting about how we're all going to meet our untimely ends out here. Anyways, we're going to go just a little farther, but then we've got to start heading back to Nashkel. How disappointing.

* * *

Day 16, Hour 21

Well, we're back in Nashkel, and with nothing to show for it. I guess maybe someone else'll have to find Brage and put an end to his evil deeds, because we sure didn't and we're right out of time.

. . .Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating. We don't exactly have _nothing_ to show for it. We did get an autograph from a rather monstrous trio what called themselves Larry, his brother Darryl, and his other brother Darryl. That's something. I've never hear of them, myself, but by the way they were going on, I think they might be a bit famous or something? I'd have loved to stay and talk with them more, Mr. Journal, but one of them was a kobold and Xan was starting to get antsy. Kind of a pain. Anyways, we're headed for Beregost tomorrow.

Khalid and Jaheira have dropped some real bad news on us, though. They think we should split up. I mean, I get why. The enemy knows our group, and we'll be harder to identify if we don't go waltzing into town all together. And since Xan and Rasaad both joined more recently, there's a chance the folks what're after us don't know they're with us yet. Also, Jaheira says she's got a contact she and Khalid need to go see and ask a few questions of. I tried to get more details out of her, but she wouldn't say anything more. Apparently, it's some sort of secret stuff. Not sure if I like that.

We're to meet back in Nashkel after we make contact with Tranzig disguised as Mulahey's goons. After that, we'll plot our next move. Jaheira says this may be a good time for me to learn some leadership skills, and she's sure I can handle myself for the short time we'll be apart. Dinner tonight'll be the last meal we're going to have together as a team . . . well, at least for a few days. It's kind of sad, but I guess it makes sense. Still, I'm a bit nervous about traveling around without those two to help me. I'm so used to Jaheira being the leader, Mr. Journal, and I'm not sure I can lead near as well. Oh, I do hope I handle this party in a way that'll do her proud.

* * *

Day 17, Hour 5

Well. This is it. It's our first day without Khalid and Jaheira to look after us, and already I'm so damn nervous I'm like to throw up. My stomach's all full of jumps and twisty turns. Not even sure if I can eat breakfast this morning, not in this state.

I've decided we should stop by the carnival to get some supplies from the merchants there, and then we'll be on our way to Beregost.

Gods, Mr. Journal, it feels like everyone's looking at me different this morning. Sure, it's probably just my nerves playing tricks on me, and nothing's changed, really, but I don't like it, not one bit.

* * *

Day 17, Hour 14

When we were at the carnival this morning, we rescued a lady what'd been turned to stone. The halfling what was hocking stone to flesh scrolls next to her was price gouging, for sure, but I mean, we couldn't just leave her there, Mr. Journal.

Anyway, her name's Branwen and she's a cleric of Tempus. She uses warhammers too. We're just like _bosshammer buddies_. I went and bought two new ones, one for me and one for her. Oh, and it turns out that Tranzig was the one what turned her to stone. What're the odds of that, huh?

Since she had a bone to pick with Tranzig, she insisted on joining us once she found out we were after him too. There goes the disguise plan, huh? I thought Xan would be a voice of reason in all this, considering he's the one what came up with the plan in the first place, but as it turns out, he's got no objection to using force, aside from his usual complaints that we're clearly going to lose. All he wants is to talk to the guy first before Branwen goes all _battlemaiden rage_ on his ass, as he's got a few "choice words" for any and all of Mulahey's superiors. I don't think I've ever heard Xan sound so angry before. This plan's going way off the rails, Mr. Journal, and I don't want anyone losing their heads over this, either figuratively or literally. I wish Jaheira were here. Jaheira would know what to do.

Oh, on a lighter note, there was a performance of Nosferatu going on at the carnival what we caught the last half of on our way back from stocking up. Dreadfully morbid show, sure, but I've always wanted to see it for real. Didn't get many traveling performers in Candlekeep, after all. Must've read the script for that one in the main library at least a hundred times. Though I've got to say, Mr. Journal, it was a bit less . . . impactful than I'd imagined.

Anyway, we're in Beregost now. Turns out it takes a whole lot less time to go to Beregost from Nashkel than the other way around, since it's mostly downhill. We're in Feldepost's Inn, discussing just how we're going to go about this. If Xan's info is good, then Tranzig's right upstairs as we speak. Gods, I hope nothing goes wrong.

* * *

A/N: So, like I mentioned before, I actually split this chapter in half because I felt like it flowed more naturally. Tune in next time for the confrontation with Tranzig. What could possibly go wrong?


	9. Chapter 9: Meltdown

A/N: Aaand I'm back, with the shortest chapter this story has seen yet, excepting the first. This is partially to avoid mood whiplash, regarding what happens directly after this, and partially because this was kind of emotionally tiring to write. Chapter length should be back up to normal next chapter. Now, let's get started.

* * *

Day 17, Hour 14

everything went wrong everything oh gods

* * *

Day 17, Hour 15

I . . . I'm sorry if I seem a bit frazzled, Mr, Journal, but this last hour's been about the most emotionally exhausting time I've had in weeks. We went up to confront Tranzig, and things went sour fast. He knew we were coming, Mr. Journal. He was _expecting_ us. Barely got in a word edgewise before he was trying to kill us.

What's worse, turns out he was a real powerful mage. I remember seeing him casting all those spells so damn fast I couldn't keep up with what was what, and then, and then Xan letting out this terrible scream, and falling to the ground all cold and lifeless – I don't know what came over me after that, Mr. Journal. Something inside just snapped. I remember crying, and shouting, and I went after Tranzig with my hammer over and over, and I didn't stop, not even after he weren't moving anymore. Not even after that, Mr. Journal. I think at some point, he cried for mercy, but I didn't listen. I just kept swinging and swinging, until you couldn't even recognize what was left of him for a person. Immy had to pull me off of him, and there was so much, so much blood.

I messed up bad, Mr. Journal. I know we were supposed to get information from him, but before we could interrogate him, I, I . . . Gods. I couldn't stop myself though, not after I'd watched him kill Xan like that. It was terrifying all the same – I didn't think I was even capable of ever doing something like that. And after, everything was all swimming and blurry in front of my eyes, and I couldn't stop crying and everything burned inside.

That was when Immy put her hand on my shoulder and told me things could have been worse. She pointed out that Xan was still all in one piece, and that made it different from when Xzar and Montaron died. She said we might be able to take him back to the temple, bring him back. I . . . I'd never thought of that, Mr. Journal. I mean, I'd seen the priests of Oghma back in Candlekeep raise the dead once or twice, but I guess I always thought that was only for super important people what had lots and lots of money to spare, and not some rag-tag band of shiftless wanderers.

We dragged Xan down to the temple on the edge of town, and it took half our savings, but Immy was right. The priests were able to raise him, and he's going to be okay. On our way down there, we were stopped though, by the same old man what gave us directions to the Friendly Arm Inn weeks before. Turns out he's actually the famous Elminster, and that he knew Gorion. I imagine I'd have been more awestruck were it not for the situation. Wish I could tell you what he said in more detail, Mr. Journal, but I can't remember most of it. I was still real out of sorts when he stopped us, and I tried to rush the encounter along. Was really in no mood to talk, and I wanted to get to the temple soon as possible.

We're back at the inn now, and we're going to stay here and rest for the night. We're probably going to spend a couple more days in Beregost before going back to report to Khalid and Jaheira, to give Xan some time to recover. He's in pretty poor shape right now, and he's not entirely coherent. May take a bit of time for him to bounce back from this. I guess it's not surprising that getting killed would take a lot out of a person, even if he does get brought back and all. I still can't believe he's actually alive, Mr. Journal. I thought for sure I'd lost another friend today. I feel all numb inside, like my mind's still trying to get a grip on what happened. And, thinking back on what I did, how I reacted . . . I'm not quite sure if I know myself anymore.

* * *

Day 18, Hour 7

Good morning, Mr. Journal. I'm a bit embarrassed and a lot ashamed. We just looked through the stuff we got off Tranzig's corpse yesterday, and we found a note what revealed the rise in bandit raids was the work of the same folks what were messing with the iron, and that the bandits are being led by this Tazok guy we've been hearing about recently. The note also said where Tazok had moved his main camp, and where he planned on striking next, but that part was all but blotted out with stains from Tranzig's blood. This is all my fault. I went off the handle and did something violent and horrible, and now we're back at square one because of it. In a few days we'll have to go down to Nashkel and break the news to Khalid and Jaheira. I'm not looking forward to it.

Xan's still a little out of it, so he's probably going to stay here at the inn most of the day. Branwen's going to be looking after him, since she's the one what's got the healing spells and all. Rasaad says he's going to spend the day in quiet meditation and stuff. Immy wants to see more of Beregost, so me and her are going to go out and explore. You know, have a bit of a girls' day out. We haven't gotten to have any good old sister time since we left Candlekeep, so this should be a nice break for the both of us, and might be just what I need to get my mind off things. I'm actually kind of excited, Mr. Journal. This should be a great adventure!

* * *

A/N: You know, Linn's not the only one who thought Xan was gone for good there. Actually, in my playthrough, during the heat of the battle I didn't quite see everything that was going on and I thought he'd been chunked. Linn's breakdown was actually an attempted suicide rush on my part - I sent her in there in an attempt to force a game over and allow myself to reload the game without breaking my rules, because I wasn't willing to lose Xan this early, him being one of my favorite characters and all. But instead of getting herself killed, she scored two crits in a row and splattered Tranzig all over the room. I qas quite distressed, to say the least. And I was about to break my own rules and ragequit anyway. But then I realized Xan hadn't been chunked and was just the regular kind of dead, and that I could raise him. I decided to write Linn's reaction into the story, though, because it fits really well considering the main character's heritage and because it allowed me to write in a consequence that would result in my being able to take a few detours instead of going straight to Larswood and Peldvale. Fun all around. Anyways, enough of my rambling, it's high time this chapter came to an end. Tune in next time for Linn and Immy's Excellent Adventure in Beregost! Smell ya later!


	10. Chapter 10: Girls' Day Out

A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! What better way to ring in 2017 than with a new chapter? I hope y'all are ready for Linn and Imoen's day out. Enjoy!

* * *

Day 18, Hour 17

Immy and me had a day what was considerably more exciting than what we'd planned for. Sure, it started out all nice and carefree, but stuff started happening soon enough.

Early on it started raining, so first thing we did was duck into the nearest tavern to wait it out. Place called the Burning Wizard. We had a couple of drinks, and talked about stuff, like what we think about the people we've been traveling with, that sort of thing. Immy asked me lots of questions about what I thought of the others, and she kept getting more and more specific. Oddly so. So finally, I asks her, Immy, what're you getting on about?

And get this, Mr. Journal – she thinks I have, you know, a THING for Rasaad. I. I just. What? I'm sorry, Mr. Journal, don't get me wrong or anything. I like Rasaad. I like being around him and all, and sure, I get all fluttery and nervous inside when I think about him sometimes, but I don't, you know, like him that way. I think. I mean, when I go and fall in love, and get in a relationship and all, I'd know right away I'd found the one. I mean, Rasaad? I can't even talk to him. Listen to him, yeah. I can listen to him real good. I could probably listen to him speak all the livelong day and be content. But when it comes time for me to actually say something, I just get all frozen up and everything what comes out of my mouth sounds downright stupid. I'm not sure if I can really get into that kind of relationship with someone what I have trouble even talking to, can I? Um, anyways, I told Immy she was full of beans, and she was just all laughing and stuff. I don't think she believed me.

There was some guy what lifted some gold off of us while we were drinking and then had the gall to start complaining to us about his missing boots once we caught him. I get the feeling the only way we're going to get our money back from him is to find his boots. I figure it's too much of a hassle to go out looking for them just to get back fifteen gold, but if we run into the ones what stole them later, it sure wouldn't hurt to bring them back to him.

After the rain stopped, me and Immy went outside and just wandered around town for a while. Beregost has a lot of pretty gardens. They're real nice and peaceful. We also talked to folk here and there. Seems like word of our deeds in the Nashkel Mines has already reached here, and now we're actually pretty famous. Though, most folk what met us were right surprised to find out we weren't ten feet tall with great manly beards. Apparently, that was a rather large part of the rumors by the time they made it this far north. I wonder what I would look like with a beard. Mr. Journal. Probably right strange, for sure. There were still several people what stopped us and thanked us, though, calling us heroes and all, despite our distinct lack of beards. Felt real good.

Oh! Also, we ran into old Firebead! Turns out he lives here in Beregost! Never thought we'd see anyone we knew from Candlekeep here, even if it was just a frequent visitor. We caught up on old times and helped him track down a book he was trying to find before going our separate ways again.

We hadn't left Firebead's house but a few minutes before when some little girl flagged us down and told us there was an officer looking for us over at the Jovial Juggler, on the south side of town. So, we went there, not knowing what to expect, really. But, we figured it would be better to get it over with, whatever it was. That was where we met Officer Vai. She was a real stern-looking lady, with real short hair and real shiny armor. She says she''ll pay us to hunt bandits in the area, 50 gold per head. That's a lot of gold, Mr. Journal. I don't much like the idea of hunting down folks with the intent of killing them, but I mean, they are notorious criminals, we do need the gold, and we're definitely looking for a group of bandits ourselves. At the very least, me and Immy should tell the others about this. For all we know, a job like this could very well lead us straight to Tazok's goons.

We didn't stay in the Jovial Juggler for long after that, but we did meet a couple folks, including a paladin who'd had a bad run-in with some half-ogres, and a dwarf what had his cloak stolen in the Cloakwood. He gave me a dirty look when I laughed at that. Couldn't help it, though. I mean, he lost his cloak. In the _Cloakwood_. Ahahahaha.

Well, okay, maybe it's not _that_ funny, but still.

Anyway. After that little detour we walked around some more. Was a real nice day, and starting to get close to lunchtime. Course, we weren't done having random run-ins and whatnot. Not by a long shot. Some twitchy girl grabbed us and started asking us for help 'cause there were some wizard bandits or something like that after her. She wasn't real clear on the details, and before we could ask her anything more they showed up and we ended up having to fight them.

Surprisingly, they weren't much trouble, even though we didn't have the others with us. After we beat them up enough they just turned tail and ran. The girl thanked us for our help and introduced herself as Neera. She said she was sorry for dragging us into her troubles, but she was desperate and all. Then she asked if she could travel with us, safety in numbers and whatnot. I told her sure, why not, but warned her we were going to meet someone in Nashkel in a couple few days, and what they said might determine whether she could stay with us longer or not. After all, even if I'm in charge for now, at the end of the day Jaheira is still the leader. Neera said that was fine by her.

So, we went and checked out some more gardens, with Neera in tow, and her talking our ears off the whole way. Apparently, she's a wild mage what had to run away from home after a nasty accident hurt some of her fellow apprentices. I've got to admit, it was not very encouraging, but I'm sure everything will be fine. What's the worst that could happen?

About a half hour after that, we were approached by a man what called himself Garrick, and he wanted to know if we could help his boss, who had some thugs after her. Well, it was about around lunchtime then, Mr. Journal, but we figured it wouldn't take too long to hear this lady out, and we could always eat after. So, Garrick took us to her, this lady called Silke what was supposed to be some real famous actress. But, really, Mr. Journal, she was so overblown and melodramatic about everything I'd be surprised if she could act herself out of a paper bag.

Anyway, Silke asked us to take care of some thugs for her, but when they showed up, they weren't thugs at all! In fact, the way they were acting, it sounded more like Silke had hired them to get something for her and she just wanted to get out of paying. We refused to hurt the men, since they were clearly innocent, and Silke got real steamed at us for it. She straight up attacked us, Mr. Journal. She went down real quickly, though, because when Neera cast a magic missile at her, it suddenly turned into a whole barrage of them and they all hit her at once. Mr. Journal, I have learned today that wild magic is abso-freaking-lutely awesome. A bit overkill and a little disturbing, but awesome nonetheless.

Garrick was real upset when he realized Silke had been playing him for a fool, and asked if he could come along with us instead. Unfortunately for him, we couldn't take him up on that offer, because being the party bard is my job. But since it was already past lunchtime and me and Immy were starving, we invited him to come eat with us and offered to treat him to a meal. I was pretty keen on talking to him, after all. Not very often I get to chat with another bard.

We nipped into the Red Sheaf Inn to get a late lunch, since it was real close-by. Garrick's a pretty interesting fellow, but he mostly since lyrical ballads and love songs and whatnot. That's different from what I do. I just don't understand why he'd settle for that though. I mean, any old sod can sing the popular songs of the day, but what we do? It's an art. Don't see what the point of barding is if you're not telling tales of grand heroes and epic battles. Or at the very least, writing a few of your own songs.

Our lunch was rudely interrupted, though, when another thrice-dratted rat-faced assassin showed up. The seediest dwarf you ever did see, Mr. Journal. Garrick freaked out and ran off once the fighting started. Haven't seen him since. This assassin was a lot tougher than the others. Me, Immy and Neera were barely able to take him down. Somehow, we survived, though. I guess splitting up was maybe a dumb idea, but I think the day we had was worth it.

After seeing our combat prowess, one of the guys at the bar asked if we could get back his sword what was stolen by gnolls. I told him we already had a lot on our plate and couldn't go out looking for his sword, but if we actually ran into the gnolls what took it, we'd give them what for.

After lunch, we went to the Thunderhammer Smithy to do some shopping, because sod diamonds, proper weapons are a girl's _real_ best friend. We got a nice quarterstaff for Neera, an off-hand sword for Immy, and backup _bosshammers_ for me and Branwen, because hell if I'm going without one again. This one I have now was made before we solved the crap in the Nashkel mines, even if I bought it after, and I don't want to deal with it if the damn thing breaks again. I also bought a real nice sling and some bullets what I'm planning on giving to Xan so he doesn't have to go rushing the enemy line with that glowy sword of his all the time.

When we got back to the inn, we introduced Neera to everyone else. They all seem to get along pretty well so far, which is good. It's nice to have new friends, especially when they get along with current ones. Xan's a little leery of her though, he says that exposing ourselves to the dangers of wild magic through her is just like begging to get ourselves killed. But I'm not too worried, as he says that kind of thing about pretty much everyone we meet and everything we do. In fact, Mr. Journal, it's actually kind of a relief to see him acting like himself again, instead of, I don't know, some half-coherent sleepy zombie man or something.

I'm up in my room right now, writing and organizing my things. I'm going to go downstairs for dinner with everyone soon, where me and Immy will tell the others about stuff we learned today, and we'll all discuss what's best for us to do next.

P.S. Forgot to add this in earlier, but on our way back we also talked to this one lady what was waiting on news from her husband. Turns out we actually had a letter from him with us. Got it on our way up to Beregost, off an ogrillon what had killed the halfling courier who'd been carrying it. She was real grateful and gave us a neat magic ring.

P.P.S. After hearing what the townsfolk had to say about us, Immy thinks she should choose a name more befitting of a hero and she's now calling herself "Imoen the Quick". I'm still calling her Immy though. It's easier.

* * *

A/N: For the record, though this particular journal is based on a vanilla playthrough, the "Imoen the Quick" thing is a reference to a line in the BG1 NPC Project. So, had to mention that, give credit where it's due and all. Also, a note about Linn and Imoen's conversation in the Burning Wizard - In the original draft of the journal, which I wrote in-game, Imoen actually thought Linn had a crush on Xan and not Rasaad. Linn denies it and goes on to tell her journal that Xan is not really her type but she could see herself falling for Rasaad. I changed it because I thought it made more sense for Imoen to actually read Linn correctly and pick up on her crush on Rasaad before even she did. The reason it was written another way originally was because I back when I started this playthrough a couple years ago I actually posted around the first 25 days of the journal's rough draft on the official Baldur's Gate forums as I played. After Day 10 or so a good chunk of the people in the thread had started shipping Linn with Xan even though I was actively trying to start Rasaad's romance this playthrough. The original passage was an ill-conceived attempt at saying "no silly she doesnt like Xan she likes Rasaad", with Imoen as a stand-in for the readers. It was a bad idea and very poorly written, so I changed it this time around. I hope this version of the passage is better. Anyways, I've blathered long enough, so time for the old song and dance - if you liked this chapter, please review, fave, and follow. Thanks and see you all next time!


	11. Chapter 11: The Start of Two Searches

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Job hunting takes a lot out of a girl. But, it's up now, so please enjoy~!

* * *

Day 19, Hour 9

Morning, Mr. Journal. So, here's the deal. We've agreed that the best course of action is to hunt down all the bandits we can. We'll make the roads safer, get some coin in our pockets from Officer Vai, and, most importantly, sooner or later we're like to have a run in with at least one group of bandits what are connected to this Tazok fellow. It may not be the most efficient way of going about things, but thanks to me and my rash behavior, it's now just about the best option we've got.

Of course, first we've got to go to Nashkel and inform Khalid and Jaheira of the situation. I'm not exactly looking forward to telling them about my failure, but I guess it can't be avoided and that I'd best get it over with. We're leaving this morning, soon as we get some breakfast in our bellies.

* * *

Day 19, Hour 22

The trip to Nashkel was long and real uneventful. Just lots of boring walking. Immy tried to liven things up a little by telling some really terrible jokes, but they just made everyone groan. I talked with Neera a bit, and she told me more about some of the crazy stuff her wild magic's done in the past. Some of it was pretty funny, but most of it was a bit worrying. I sure hope we don't get ourselves on the wrong end of one of her mishaps, and they just keep messing up our enemies instead. Fingers crossed, Mr. Journal.

We're here in Nashkel now, and we've spoken with Khalid and Jaheira. Jaheira thinks my actions were real foolish, just like I was afraid of. Honestly, thinking about what happened still scares me a little. I don't like to think of myself as someone who's like to fly off the handle like that, even given those circumstances. Fighting in self defense is one thing, but this was something different, Mr. Journal, Revenge, I think. Does that make me bad? I. I think it might.

Anyways, in light of things, Khalid and Jaheira think we should stay as two separate groups. There's a lot of ground to cover if we're going to go hunting bandits, and there's more likelihood we'll actually move forward if we've got more than one group searching. Every ten days or so, we'll meet up at the Friendly Arm Inn to share anything we've found out. Hopefully it'll only take a tenday to find out what's going on. Our group leaves again tomorrow morning, this time to go out into the wilderness in search of bandits.

P.S. Jaheira has no problem with Neera staying with us. She says, long as I'm leading this group, I'm the one what makes the decisions. It feels weird, Mr. Journal. Jaheira still feels like the leader to me. Especially since, you know, I've done a pretty bad job of leading so far. I'm glad Neera can stay, though. She's fun to have around.

* * *

Day 20, Hour 6

We're setting off today to find us some bandits! Neera's requested that we start our search near the Firewine Bridge, as she's heard there's an old wild mage around there, and she'd like to talk to him. Says she wants to see if she can get some pointers on how to reduce the chance of bad stuff happening during her wild surges. It's nice to know she'd like to take precautions so she doesn't accidentally set us all on fire or something. I feel so loved right now.

Maybe if she finds this guy and he tells her what she wants to know, things will be even more smooth sailing. I mean, I've never seen any bad stuff what her wild magic can do, but she's certainly told enough stories about it to make a girl a mite nervous. I figure it might be a good idea to find this guy. And if we can take down some bandits in the process, all the better!

* * *

Day 20, Hour 22

We've been traveling all day. This area looks kind of familiar. I think we're near the place where we got out of the Nashkel Mines. I'm pretty sure that means that the Firewine Bridge is direct north of here., but I've never had the best sense of direction.

We've found no signs of bandits so far. In fact, nothing much of note happened today at all, Mr. Journal, so I don't have anything exciting to write you about, not unless you want to listen to me complain about how much my damn feet hurt after all that walking. Sorry about that.

I mean, I guess I have one thing, but it's pretty boring. Immy and me talked near the whole way here. She's been helping me think up some ideas for a song. It's been a hell of a long time since I've been able to sit down and write one, and I'm like to get rusty if I don't soon. I hope you don't mind, Mr. Journal, but since you're a ready source of paper, I might just use you to write my songs in. They might not be the epic tales I'm used to, those take a lot of time and thought to sit down and write, but I haven't created anything in a while and I am just getting. Really antsy. I'll have to use what time I can find.

Anyways, if the Firewine Bridge is to the north, then if we head in that direction we might just run into that wild mage Neera told us about on the way there. But for now, it's starting to get dark, and we need to set up camp. Branwen says she'll teach me a few techniques for using my bosshammer real good after dinner tonight. I'm excited, because she's a good warrior. I'll write you again tomorrow, Mr. Journal. Well, actually, maybe tonight, after we're done setting up camp, while I'm waiting for dinner. Might work on that song then.

* * *

Day 20, Hour 22

Oh, wandering, meandering  
Up and down the hills  
Twixt Beregost and Nashkel  
Can find you many thrills

If your soul's set for adventure  
And your heart is full of song  
It just might be the perfect place  
For wandering along.

All right, this here I think is a pretty good chorus. I'll have to think up the rest of it some other time, as dinner looks to be ready.

* * *

Day 21, Hour 6

Last night, a big group of ogrillons attacked us while we were asleep. Luckily for us, Xan was on watch at the time, and he cast a sleep spell on them before they had a chance to get in a hit on anyone. He managed to shake us all awake before the spell wore off, and he bought us enough time to get our weapons ready and get the edge in the battle. We're real lucky Xan can think on his feet like that, Mr. Journal.

Anyways, Neera's making breakfast now. This is her first time cooking for the group, and I don't know how it's going to be. Hopefully she's better at it than Immy. Honestly, I'm starting to think that our cooking rotation should exclude the people who are bad at it. Immy and Xan both can't cook to save their damn lives, and I dread the times they're supposed to make food for us. I mean, I know it's all good and fair and equal if we all take turns, and that we need to split up our work evenly so no one person's got everything on their shoulders at once, but it also makes for nasty meals about a third of the time.

P.S. Bosshammer practice last night was _awesome_. I had no idea you could use this thing to block attacks if you positioned it right.

* * *

Day 21, Hour 12

We ran into a goblin encampment this morning, and the only way forward was right through it. They were pretty civilized for goblins, though, so we tried to diplomatize and all that. While trying to negotiate our way through we found out they were keeping some guy captive and calling him a god. Something weird like that.

Either way, one of the goblins ended up leading us right to the cave where their leader was, so we went in to negotiate safe passage through their territory. But the goblins inside attacked us! We beat them and their leader, but now we're all out of spells and tired out. We're going to try to rest in here for at least enough time to get our spells back before going back out, because those goblins out there aren't going to be friendly when they find out we killed their leader. Oh, what have we gotten ourselves into.

At least we're getting close to this wild mage Neera's looking for. After all, we ran into a squirrel what cawed like a crow. If that's not the result of wild magic, what is?

* * *

Day 21, Hour 21

Stinking Red Wizards showed up, they're after Neera and stuff. Killed her in the battle, but it looks like she can still be brought back. We've got to get her back to the temple as soon as possible if we want to save her, though.

I've got some time to tell you what happened, at least, since Branwen still has to heal some of the others, and Xan needs to get over . . . whatever kind of panic attack it is that he's having right now. Last I saw him he was running around the cave screaming like a little girl. I'm sure now that the danger's over he'll calm down. At least, I hope so, because this is ridiculous.

So, here's how we got into this mess. Before we left the cave, Neera noticed there was one cavern we hadn't been in yet. Since we'd heard outside the goblins were keeping some guy captive down here so they could worship him, we decided to check it out, see if maybe we could find him and help him get out. Anyways, it turned out this "goblin god" was actually the wild mage Neera was looking for, man by the name of Adoy. The goblins saw him wild surge and thought it was divine power, then the goblin leader locked him up and used him to control the goblins.

While we were talking to him, the same guys what attacked Neera in Beregost showed up out of nowhere. Or, at least, from the same group. It turned out they were Red Wizards, and they knew Neera would seek out Adoy so they were lying in wait. They were a bit vague about what they wanted Neera for, but it's clearly nothing good, and has something to do with her wild magic. When we said we wouldn't hand her over, they attacked.

I'm surprised any of us survived the fight, it was so tough. Neera got killed right near the beginning, though, so I guess whatever they need her for, they don't need her alive. That's why we're going to have to high tail it to the temple. Xan nearly got himself killed trying to draw the attention of two of the Red Wizards away from us while we dealt with their leader. One of them gave him a real nasty wound with some attack spell I didn't even full recognize. Once he realized how badly he'd been hurt, he panicked and tried to run away, but we were trapped in the room by some sort of shimmery wall what one of the wizards threw up around the door, so he couldn't. We had to cover for him so the wizards couldn't get at him while he'd let his guard down like that. After the fight was over, the magic barrier blocking the doorway went away, and Xan just ran out screaming. I really hope he doesn't get himself into any danger, he's already hurt and the rest of us are already in hot water as it is.

Adoy gave me a belt for Neera to wear once we raise her at the temple, says it will help her with her wild magic problems. I can't for the life of me figure out what it does, though. I probably won't write again for a while, Mr. Journal, at least not until we get Neera brought back and this mess sorted out. We're likely going to be marching straight to the nearest temple without breaks, after all. Anyways, Branwen's doing her part to get us ready to go, so I should help too. I'm going to go find Xan and see if I can calm him down. His being hysterical and all isn't going to help things any.

* * *

A/N: And thus we had the playthrough's first morale failure not brought on by a spell. Absolutely no one is surprised it was Xan. Tune in next time as our heroes make a mad dash to the temple and then continue their search for the bandits!


	12. Chapter 12: Hobgoblins Can't Be Bandits

A/N: Yo. Sorry for the lateness. Been working on this all night, it's late, I'm tired, so I'm not gonna talk much. Just. Here it is. Enjoy.

* * *

Day 23, Hour 2

We've been traveling for more than a day straight to get to the nearest temple – the one in Beregost, to be exact. Luckily, we weren't too late. Neera's alive and mostly well now, though we're going to spend the rest of tonight and tomorrow resting at the inn. She needs it.

So, I'll tell you real quick how things went on the way here. I left off when I went after Xan to try and calm him down, right? Okay then. I...I actually don't think I should write about that. Once he stopped panicking and all, he was real embarrassed over the whole thing. Made me promise not to tell anyone the details. I think that probably includes you, Mr. Journal.

Oh, don't worry, though – it's not like anything bad happened. Nothing dangerous or scandalous, nothing like that. Just real awkward and embarrassing, on Xan's part. If the others heard about it, they probably wouldn't let him live it down.

I will say this, though. It hurt to see him that frightened, that upset, that _vulnerable_. I don't think I ever want to see someone hurting like that ever again, Mr. Journal. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to help. I. I just.

I really want to drop this now and not talk about it no more.

Um. Anyways. After me and Xan rejoined the others, Branwen patched up his injuries and we headed out quick as we could. Surprisingly enough, the goblins outside let us walk right out of their encampment without a fight. The walk to the temple was quiet, tense, and dead serious. It was absolutely exhausting. That's really all there is to tell, Mr. Journal.

Now, I've had no sleep for a day and a half , so I'd best go get some now. Write you later, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 23, Hour 18

Good evening, Mr. Journal. We've just been staying in Feldepost's Inn all day. I slept in past lunching. Was nice. I don't get many chances to be lazy these days. Neera seems to be a bit more coherent now too. Talked with her just a few minutes ago in fact. She was wandering downstairs to grab a bite to eat, had just woken up and all.

For most of the afternoon, Xan's been teaching me a little more about magic. I think I'm starting to really get the hang of this stuff, Mr. Journal. Just before Neera showed up, though, he excused himself to go prepare his spells. I'm pretty sure that takes several hours, Mr. Journal. He's not planning on skipping dinner, is he? That's not healthy. Still, I don't think I should bug him any. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Me, though? I'm sure as Hells ready to get something to eat.

* * *

Day 23, Hour 19

Hold on, Just got an idea for a song. Loosely based on the last few days. Let me write down what I have.

Run, run, run  
Till the night is done  
Do not stop  
Till the rising sun

The journey's long  
And the road is far  
And the time is drawing near

No time to rest  
And no time to sing  
And no time to stop  
For anything

Until morning comes  
With he rising sun  
We will run,  
Run through the night

So we run, run, run  
Till the night is done  
And the place we seek in sight

* * *

Day 24, Hour 3

We're all up extra early today, probably because we all went to bed so early last night. Anyway, we're about to go out looking for bandits again. Xan prepared an identification spell last night, so we now know what that belt what Adoy gave us to give Neera is. Turns out it's supposed to protect the wearer from polymorphing themselves or turning themselves to stone. That's real helpful for Neera, of course, but it really doesn't offer much protection to the rest of us. Still, even if it's not something what controls her magic, at least it's better than nothing.

* * *

Day 24. Hour 18

We've put in a good long day of honest work, Mr. Journal, though we don't have much to show for it.

So, as you probably guessed from how early I wrote you this morning, we started our search before the sun even came up. We'd heard at the inn last night that some bandits had been hanging out near the temple on the city's outskirts, so we figured that was the best place to start. After all, the worst kind of bandits have got to be the kind what prey on pilgrims and people who are injured and looking for healing. Almost right away, we ran into a guy who demanded we hand over all our money, but it turned out he wasn't a bandit. He was just really drunk and smelled like someone had dunked him into a barrel of dwarven ale. After he finished the whole "your money or your life" routine, he tried to convince us he was a lich, then passed out on the ground. It was real pathetic. We ended up dragging him to the temple doorstep and leaving him there for the priests to look after.

For the next few hours, we searched a lot, but we didn't find any bandits. Just lots of wolves and wild dogs what attacked us. Oh, and some guy looking up at the stars, too. Said he was an "astronomer," whatever that is, and that he saw some kind of disturbing things up there. I wonder what that's all about. Hopefully nothing too bad.

Anyways, after a while, I was starting to wonder if there were bandits around the temple at all. Neera suggested that maybe the people in Beregost were just kind of stupid and thought the drunk guy was a bandit, and maybe also a lich. But, soon after, we were both proven wrong, because it turns out there actually were bandits. Soon as we were just about ready to turn around and go back to Beregost, we got held up by a group of them. But they weren't just any bandits, they were _hobgoblin_ bandits. All of the bandits we've seen so far have been human, so this was a bit unexpected. These guys said they were part of a group called the Chill. Might be worth looking into.

After that, we headed back to Beregost to talk with Officer Vai. As we got into town , the sun rose on the horizon behind the temple in the distance, and we stopped and turned around for a bit to watch it. Was real pretty and inspiring and whatnot. You know, the proper thing to do when watching a sunrise is to comment on its beauty or to look on in awed silence. We mostly went for the second one.

Except Xan.

Xan clearly does not get the point of watching a sunrise.

He loudly announced to re rest of us that he was amazed we'd survived through the wee hours and lived to see another day. And that, Mr. Journal, was how Xan ruined the moment for all of us. Take note.

Oh, and you know what? We didn't even get paid for our hard work, because apparently, Officer Vai is only interested in stopping _human_ bandits. Maybe halfling, dwarf or elf bandits too. But apparently _hobgoblin_ bandits are not a concern. She is such a … a … smelly butt face! We worked hard to stop those bandits, and we even did it before dawn! Didn't even have breakfast yet!

There was nothing much we could do about it, though, so after we grabbed us some breakfast at the Jovial Juggler Inn, we left to the south to patrol the road from Beregost to Nashkel. Seems like a pretty normal place to find bandits, right?

It started raining soon after we started our patrol, and Xan was complaining about how we'd all catch our death of cold out there. Lasted for a couple of hours or so. We didn't find any bandits, but there were a lot of gibberlings, and some more hobgoblins. Not bandit hobgoblins, though. Just the normal kind what attacks you on sight without asking for all your gold or anything. One of them had an odd pair of boots on him. We'll have to get them identified later, because I can't tell for the life of me what kind of boots they are. We also saw this totally submerged house just off the road! Not real important or anything, it was just real interesting and odd to look at. I wonder what the story behind a place like that is. I mean, we're still several miles from the coast, and this house was just smack in the middle of this pond. It seems like a pretty unlikely thing to happen to a house.

In the real late morning we came to a cave what just screamed "bandit hideout". But there was nothing inside. Just some bats and a couple of gold pieces on the ground. Immy noticed the remains of a campfire near the back of the cave, so we think someone might have been in here recently. But, whoever they were, they've clearly moved on. Those ashes had long since gone cold, probably a couple days, least from what Immy could tell. I'm not quite so good at that kind of thing, so I'll take her word for it.

I figured maybe the whole campfire thing might mean we were getting close, but we didn't see a single bandit all day. Got ambushed by a group of xvarts in one pass we went through, but they weren't bandits. They were xvarts.

It's starting to get dark, so we're camping right off the road tonight. We've built a nice campfire and all, and even if we haven't found anything yet, it's been a real big day for us. Good night, Mr. Journal. Here's hoping it doesn't start raining again like it was earlier.

* * *

A/N: And that's it for now. Join us next time as Linn and friends continue their search for bandits. Will they find Tazok and his goons in time and come a step closer to solving the mystery behind the iron crisis? One can only hope. As always, please review, and go ahead and fav and follow if you like what you see.


	13. Chapter 13: Finding Firewine

A/N: Sorry about the one month hiatus, things got real hectic with my job search. Guess who just found a part time job? That's right, it's me. But you did not come here to hear about my gainful employment. You came here for more adventures on the Sword Coast. And I intend to deliver. Enjoy.

* * *

Day 25, Hour 10

Good morning, Mr. Journal. We're just now preparing to leave and continue towards Nashkel looking for bandits along the road. I guess what Xan said about catching cold in the rain yesterday might hold some water after all, seeing as Immy's been sniffling all morning. I hope it doesn't get worse. Cure disease potions are right expensive.

Oh! We know what the boots we got off those hobgoblins yesterday are now. Xan prepared a spell to identify them while we were resting last night. They're Boots of Stealth. That pickpocket in Beregost was talking about Boots of Stealth, now that I think about it. Maybe these are the ones he's been missing. We'll find out the next time we're in Beregost, I guess.

Anyway, I'd best go help the others pack up the camping supplies so we can get on the road already.

* * *

Day 25, Hour 21

Soon after we got going this morning, we were attacked by a big group of hobgoblins! Xan fired off a sleep spell what put most of them snoring, which made it lots easier, but one of them wasn't affected and he charged right through our ranks. Would have been a real problem, but then Neera wild surged and the next thing you know, the hobgoblin's legs were invisible. Well, he started panicking right quick when he looked down and there weren't no legs there. It was pretty awesome. Xan used the opening as an opportunity to get behind him and take him down with Burning Hands. Mages are so cool, Mr. Journal. I can't wait until I'm good at magic.

We found several scrolls on the hobgoblins. Dunno where they got them. One of them, we couldn't make any sense of. Even Xan couldn't tell what it was, and I mean, reading magic wizardy stuff is like, part of his job. He said it looked like some sort of protection scroll but it used some unfamiliar runes or whatnot and he'd need some time to figure out exactly what they said.

Other than the hobgoblins, we didn't really encounter anything else on the way to Nashkel aside from some crazy old half-naked hermit who gave us some real cryptic advice what I couldn't understand. I've never been the best at understanding wise old guy advice, Mr. Journal. The monks at Candlekeep, they tried to give me a lot of that. Pretty sure more than half of it just went in one ear and out the other. I learned a lot more from the books.

We're at the inn in Nashkel now, and we're staying for the night. We still haven't found any bandits. I'm starting to get a little discouraged, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 26, Hour 6

Got some good news at breakfast this morning, Mr. Journal. Xan's figured the scroll out. He says it's got a spell what will protect us from fire on it, and that we should keep it on hand, as it might, and I quote, "slightly postpone our inevitable demise."

We're headed sort of north-ish today. I remember hearing some rumors back in Beregost about there being a halfling town up around the Firewine area, and where there's a town, there's like to be bandits nearby, just waiting for some travelers to mug. So, we're going to go up there and see if the halflings are having any bandit troubles. And, hey, if they aren't, at least we'll be pretty close to Beregost again and getting back there will be easy.

* * *

Day 27, Hour 10

We walked for a long time yesterday. Nothing all that interesting happened on the road. Just, you know, talking and stuff, to pass the time. Branwen and me, we got to talking for quite a while, and I learned a whole bunch about Tempus and why he's pretty much the most badass god ever. He's all about epic battles, just, the stuff heroic tales are made of. I also learned about how everyone where Branwen comes from are a bunch of jerks what won't let women be priests. Which is really dumb because Branwen is the best at being a priest. The best. Just like I'm the best at being a bard. Their loss.

Anyways, by the time we stopped and set up camp I was real tired from all the walking, and I went to sleep right after dinner without writing. Sorry about that, Mr. Journal. Dinner _sucked_ by the way. I am really getting tired of this. So this morning, I decided to ask for advice on how to handle this whole cooking rotation thing. Because seriously, _some_ of us can't cook to save our lives.

At first I was going to ask Rasaad since he seems to be real wise and stuff, and everything he says just makes so much sense. And also because he is just _amazing_ , that too, yes. But, I got real nervous when I thought about doing that, and I don't know why. So, I didn't. I could've asked Immy, since she's my sister and all, and we're real good at helping each other out, but that would mean I'd have to tell her to her face that her cooking is gross. I could've asked Xan, I guess, since I trust him and he's pretty much the easiest person here to talk to aside from Immy, but then I would've had to admit I think he cooks bad, too. And I'm pretty sure if I asked Neera for suggestions, things would just get real crazy, real fast.

So that's how I ended up talking to Branwen again. She says that maybe we should assign different tasks to the people what are best at them. So only the people who can cook are in the cooking rotation, only the people who are good at starting fires will take turns building the campfire, only the people who can put up a tent right will be in charge of setting up camp . . . you get the idea. I think it sounds like a real good idea what brings out the most in us all, makes use of our strengths, and covers our weaknesses. We'd have to work on it a bit before starting to use it though. I mean, we'd have to figure out who does what. Aside from Immy and Xan not cooking, that is. That much is already a given.

Anyways, we are about to get going, so I'll write more later.

* * *

Day 28, Hour 5

Gosh, I'm sorry, Mr. Journal. I've really got to stop going to sleep without writing. So. Here's what you missed.

On our way to the Firewine Bridge yesterday, we went through the same area where we'd met Adoy. We ran into a poor guy whose wife had been killed by the goblins a couple weeks back camped near there. He asked us for help, wanted us to go avenge her and also find her body and bring it back for a proper burial. We told him we'd already taken care of the hostile goblins last time we were through the area and the ones what were left were actually pretty friendly. He seemed a bit more at peace then, since the ones what killed his wife had gotten what for, and the ones what were left wouldn't hurt anyone else. But, he was still a bit nervous about going into their camp and asked us to find his wife's remains for him. So, we went into the caves behind the camp and found what was left of her. Didn't take too long. Then, we brought her back and helped the poor man bury her. A bit of a detour, I know, but it was the right thing to do, I think, and it helped put that poor guy's mind at peace. All I can really do now is pray for his wife and hope she makes it to the afterlife all right. These kinds of things are always sad, Mr. Journal. I never quite know exactly what to say about them.

We made it to the area near the Firewine Bridge late last night. I can see the bridge in the distance from here. There's a lot of cliffs and canyons in the area, though, so it's going to be a bit hard to navigate. We're actually near the edge of one right now. We're going to either have to find a way across or a way down to keep moving north. And I'm not talking about the obvious way down. That would just be an easy way to break all of our necks.

It was real cold last night and it was hard to sleep for long before you just woke up shivering. I think it might have even snowed for a bit. Horribly unseasonal for this time of year. It's nearly Kythorn, for gods' sakes! And I know it wasn't just me, neither! The others had trouble with it, too! Was just too damn cold.

I'm kind of tired, but as the sun's coming up, I think we should just move on, even if we barely got any rest at all.

* * *

Day 28, Hour 15

Mr. Journal, today I learned that the undead are total jerks. We ran into a ton of zombies and skeletons this morning, and almost all of them went straight for me and ganged up on me and stuff. Maybe they just really don't like bards. Died in a bard-related incident or something. Oh, and this _one_ group of skeletons . . . they weren't just skeletons. They were skeletons . . . with warhammers.

Oh _Hells_ no.

I am the only one allowed to rock a bosshammer.

. . . Okay, well, maybe Branwen too. But sure as Hells not a bunch of skeletons.

The rest of the group had to help me out since I was surrounded by the damn rat bastards. Xan took a nasty hit to the shoulder from one of their warhammers during the fight. I feel a mite bad about that, as I'm pretty sure that blow was meant for me. I think he might have gotten his arm knocked kind of out of place, as he's been moving real weird since then.

When we got closer to the bridge, some really messed up worshiper of Ilmater came up to us and asked us to convert. I read several books about the gods back in Candlekeep, and I'm pretty sure most of the stuff this guy said wouldn't be approved by Ilmater. Especially not the way he chewed Neera and Xan out just for being mages. Last time I checked, Ilmater's got nothing against wizards, and definitely doesn't think they're "vile" or "evil" or any of the other nasty words this guy was yelling. From what I remember, Ilmater is more about stuff like charity and mercy and bearing the pain of others so they dont have to be hurt anymore. Anyway, when we said we wouldn't convert, he called us all terrible sinners and stormed off. That man's a real disgrace to his own religion, he is.

Before moving on, we decided to check out the bridge itself, as it was a major landmark what's got a lot of stories attached to it. I'd also heard some stuff back in Beregost about the ruins near the bridge. Heard about treasure and danger. Not to say I'd be stupid enough to go poking around down there, not after hearing what a deathtrap they were, but I was kind of hoping I'd get to see at least a tiny bit of them from a distance.

So, we walked across the bridge, which was in pretty poor shape. We met another bard out there on the bridge, and he wanted to run an epic by us what he'd been working on. Well, you know me, Mr. Journal. I'm always up for a good epic. This one was about some knights what went down into the ruins to look around but then one betrayed them all. Now, their souls are bound to this place. Was a pretty good tale, though it could have used more heroism. I gave the man ten gold to finance his further travels. Linn Rhett will always support a fellow bard, and let it never be said otherwise!

Anyway, there were kobolds on the other side of the bridge, and a couple of them noticed us, ran out onto the bridge and attacked. Those flaming arrows of theirs really smart, Mr. Journal! And the little buggers kept hiding behind these big chunks of debris, making it real hard to keep track of them. We managed to win though, somehow. We had to turn around after that, as Xan refused to go any further. Kobolds, and all. It was just as well, since we needed to keep going toward that halfling town like we'd planned to, anyway.

Since then, we've traveled quite a ways north. It's not quite dark yet, but as we didn't get much rest last night, everyone is tiring quickly. I mean, I think most of us are still good for another couple of hours, but Xan's getting pretty stumbly and incoherent. If we run into anything bad up ahead, we'd be pretty screwed without a mage, and Neera's already out of spells for the day, so she's out, too. So, we've just decided to call it a day. I'm still all beat up anyway, thanks to the undead being total jerks and all. I wish Branwen had some healing spells left. Then I wouldn't be all covered in bruises and maybe she'd be able to help Xan with his arm, too. Oh well. I'm sure things will be better tomorrow morning.

* * *

A/N: And there's the chapter. Let me tell you, it took like _all of my willpower_ not to name this chapter "Battle on the Big Bridge", because that would have been freaking neat. But the only actual fight on the bridge took up all of one paragraph near the end, so I guess it wouldn't have worked out. It would have been fun to make a reference like that, though. Anyways, it's nearly midnight, so I should go to bed because I'm getting a bit loopy. Tune in next time as our heroes journey to Gullykin and scour the surrounding countryside for bandits. Toodles!


	14. Chapter 14: Reporting In

A/N: Ello, everyone. Here's another chapter for you. Normally I'd have more of a note up here, but I'm really sleepy right now.

* * *

Day 29, Hour 3

So, we all woke up bright and early after our little detour to see the Firewine Bridge. Branwen healed us all up pretty good, so we were all ready to go. Xan's arm was still bothering him though. I know so because he was carrying on about it all morning. Loudly. At least until the ghouls showed up, anyway. They were pretty easy to take care of, though. Nothing to waste ink on, really.

One of them was carrying a scrap of paper, some sort of riddle or somesuch asking about why chairs had legs but couldn't walk. Which, honestly, makes no sense, Mr. Journal. Just because they're called legs doesn't mean they're the same kind we walk around on. Clearly, whoever wrote this had way too much time on their hands. Either that, or they just really liked being difficult.

After that was done with, we started heading up the hill, and of course, that's when a kobold just had to show up. Next thing I knew, Rasaad had a flaming arrow through his shoulder and everyone was rushing forward to attack. Was a quick fight, but right after it was over, we heard a scream from behind us. We looked back only to find that Xan had run off after seeing the kobold and now he was surrounded by more of those ghouls a little up the road. I ran over to help him, though I saw him go all rigid before I got there. Thought elves were immune to a ghoul's touch, but I guess I was wrong. Anyways, I should've been more careful, because after I rushed the ghouls, it weren't five minutes before I felt myself stiffening up too. I couldn't move, and the ghouls were attacking, and everything hurt. It was awful, Mr. Journal.

Luckily, Immy and Neera came to our rescue just in time. Branwen came over to heal Xan and me right after she was done tending to Rasaad's arrow wound. At least Rasaad's all right, Mr. Journal. I tell you, when I saw him falter back there, I felt everything stop for a second.

We didn't run into any more ghouls after that, but there was no shortage of wild animals attacking us in the woods. There was even one wolf what burst out of the bushes before we even knew what was happening and tried to use Xan as a chew toy. We managed to chase it off before it did too much harm, but it sure didn't stop him from telling us all about rabies. Really don't think that's something he needs to worry about. Pretty sure rabid wolves foam at the mouth and act all strange, and this one kind of . . . didn't.

We made it to the halfling village of Gullykin by late morning and met with the mayor, fellow by the name of Gandolar Luckyfoot. Directed us to the temple for some healing. We went there right away. It was a weird place. I've never seen a temple before what doubled as an alehouse. Immy and me decided to go exploring while the clerics patched the others up, and we found a secret door in the basement. I admit, we opened it up and took a peek inside, but inside was nothing but these dark, spooky tunnels. Something about them didn't feel right, Mr. Journal. Enough to make the hairs on the back of a girl's neck stand straight on end. Well, we closed that door right quick and headed straight back up those stairs. After all, we had better things to do than go snooping around in some unknown scary tunnel place.

By the time we left the temple, everyone in town had heard of us and wanted to know about our adventures. Guess word travels fast in a little village like this. We also met this one old man what told us a bit more about the ruins at the Firewine Bridge. Apparently, it used to be an elven trading post before it was destroyed, but that was a real long time ago.

Around lunchtime, we met with Gandolar Luckyfoot again to ask about bandits in the area and all. Turns out that they've had no troubles with bandits, and this trek out here was another dead end. He did mention, though, that he was worried about the kobolds in the Firewine Ruins, saying they posed a potential threat to the village. I wanted to help, but Xan immediately spoke out against it. At first, I told him that I knew he didn't like kobolds, but these people needed our help. But then it turned out it wasn't about that. He explained that in addition to the ruins being a "deathtrap", the kobolds weren't an immediate threat, there was nothing to suggest they would attack the village in the near future, and that we had much more pressing matters on our hands – specifically, that it had been nearly a tenday since we'd begin our hunt and we'd have to hot-foot it back to the Friendly Arm in to make it there in time to report back to Khalid and Jaheira. After that, most everyone took his side in the argument, and we left town. I hope the kobolds don't hurt anyone and just keep to the ruins.

We got attacked by gnolls on our way north. We got out of it mostly unharmed, though one of them managed to nick Xan with a spear. He's not hurt that bad, but he's been making a pretty big fuss over it. He is convinced it will get infected, swell up, and kill him. Sometimes, I don't know how that man manages to function, what with how much he lets little things like this distress him so. All that worrying can't be good for his health. He's going to give himself so many wrinkles. Maybe that's why he wears a circlet all the time – to hide all the worry wrinkles on his forehead.

Anyway, we reached Beregost at an hour when no decent person would still be awake. We've managed to get a room at Feldepost's Inn for the rest of the night, and we're heading on to the Friendly Arm Inn once we've gotten some sleep.

* * *

Day 30, Hour 10

Just about to leave Beregost. Soon as we finish up breakfast, we'll be on our way. I'd write more, but I need to stuff all this food into my mouth fast as I can. I don't want to be the one what holds everyone up.

* * *

Day 30, Hour 23

The journey to the Friendly Arm was pretty uneventful. Ran into a couple gibberlings on the road and that was about it. Got there around late afternoon or so.

We met with Khalid and Jaheira earlier this evening. They've not found anything for certain yet, but they've heard reports of bandits to the north and east of here, some of them hobgoblins like the ones what we ran into near the temple. They suggested that we check to the east and they head north. I mentioned my worries about Gullykin, but everyone else says that this is a much more pressing matter, as the bandits could move on at any moment, and then all our hard work would be for nothing. Much as I don't like it, they've got a point, and I'm not really in a position to argue, seeing as it's my fault we're in this mess to begin with.

We're supposed to leave again tomorrow morning, Mr. Journal. I can only hope for the best.

* * *

Day 31, Hour 7

Good morning, Mr. Journal! Today, we head off to the east. Hopefully, we'll find something.

Rasaad has been unusually quiet this morning, even for Rasaad. I want to ask him if there's something what's wrong, but I'm really not sure if I should. I mean, it's probably nothing, right? If I get myself all worried and then it turns out he's just deep in thought or something, then that would just be embarrassing. Still, maybe I should try talking to him at least? I really don't know why the thought should make me so nervous, Mr. Journal. I mean, Rasaad is real nice and patient and stuff, and I know he wouldn't mind. Oh, I really do worry about stupid things sometimes, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 31, Hour 15

We're just south of the Friendly Arm Inn right now, stopping to catch our breaths. From what Jaheira and Khalid told us last night, our group's destination is a place called Larswood, just east of here.

Anyway, I did it. I asked Rasaad what was bothering him He told me he wasn't bothered at all, and he was just meditating on recent events. And, he also said not to worry myself on his account. Not exactly sure what that means, though. But, I talked to him, Mr. Journal. I talked to him all casual-like. And not even just the usual stuff, where one of us makes a comment or something and the other acknowledges it. Or when he's talking and I listen and try to add some insight but fail most of the time. No, I talked to him. I initiated it and everything. I don't know what I was ever so worried about. And, it's the strangest thing, Mr. Journal. Maybe it's just me, but when we're actually talking, and it's not quite so one sided, it almost seems that, well. Maybe, just maybe, for all his nice way of talking, he might be just as awkward with this as I am. That's the impression I got.

...Nah. It's just me. I'm imagining it. Gotta be.

Anyway, we are all in high spirits, probably owing to what a nice day it is today. The sun's shining, and the sky is this real pretty blue color, more bright-like than usual. Rasaad's still real quiet, but I saw him smile a few minutes ago. And even Xan seems less down than usual. He hasn't complained about anything for the last half hour. I got a good feeling about today, Mr. Journal. A real good feeling.

* * *

A/N: And that's it for the night. For any of you who are disappointed the group skipped the Firewine Ruins, fear not, they shall return much, MUCH later. I intend to hit as close to 100% of the content as I can in this playthrough, save anything that would be completely out of character for this party. Not sure how well I''ll succeed, as this is my first time playing the game in close to ten years and checking the walkthrough is for sissies, but I think I can get pretty darn close, at least. I can at the very least guarantee that all major areas will be covered at some point, with the possible exception of Durlag's Tower, because I remember never being able to make it through that place as a kid.

Anyways, join us next time, when our heroes head towards Larswood! As always, feedback is really appreciated so please review if you can, thanks!


	15. Chapter 15: An Unexpected Change

A/N: Actually wrote most of this last night, but didn't finish editing until today. I'd like to extend my thanks to Winding Warpath tor being the first person to favorite this story. You're awesome.

* * *

Day 31, Hour 23

So, we ran into an ogre soon after I last wrote. So much for my real good feeling about today, huh? At least there's a silver lining – turns out it was the same ogre the author lady at the Friendly Arm was telling me about a few weeks back, and the brute still had her missing belt. So, at least now we can get that back to her. Let me tell you, though, that ogre must have really liked belts. Was wearing too many of them to count. Most of the others were worn out old things on the verge of falling apart, but there was one that radiated some sort of magic aura. Immy thought it was real fashionable and went with her tunic, so she took it. Xan warned her against putting it on, because it could be cursed or something, but Immy just shrugged it off, saying, "well, what's the worst what can happen, right?"

Long story short, Xan was right, and Immy's a man now. That's right. It's a belt what turns men into women and women to men. Physically, at least. Didn't even know a magic belt could do that. We couldn't just turn around at that point, I mean, we'd lose around two days doing that, so Immy is just going to have to deal with it until we go back to the Friendly Arm and get Miss Gellana at the temple there to cast Remove Curse. Immy has been making a big deal of it and I can't say I blame her. Or is it him? Either way, I get why Immy's up in arms. Don't think I'd be too pleased if I suddenly had something between my legs either.

. . . You know what, Mr. Journal, I think I'll stick with "her". Immy is a she, after all, even if she's got man parts at the moment.

Anyways, we continued on to Larswood, and right when we were almost there, we got ambushed by kobolds Xan was no help in this situation, as usual. We beat them, but in the middle of the fight, Neera wild surged, and none of us have been able to talk since. We're setting up camp now in silence, and it is _really boring_. I can only hope this has worn off by morning.

* * *

Day 32, Hour 8

I can talk again, Mr. Journal! That's a relief, isn't it? We are now on the outskirts of Larswood. There's a lot of general unhappiness going around this morning, though. Immy's complaining about her man parts, and Xan won't shut up about that wild surge from last night. He's convinced that next time it'll only be worse, and that we're endangering ourselves by traveling with Neera. I think it's starting to get to Neera, too, because she got into an argument with Xan over it around half an hour ago and now she's sitting around looking upset while he complains at the rest of us. I'm sure he'll calm down in a couple hours or so, and when he does, I think I'll have a talk with him. Far as I'm concerned, Neera hasn't done anything yet what could really put us in danger, and certainly nothing to warrant Xan shouting at her like that.

* * *

Day 32, Hour 23

We finally ran into some real bandits today! No sign of them being the ones we were looking for, though. Still, Vai will be happy to hear we got some. A group of them ambushed us this morning. Xan put most of them out of commission with a sleep spell, but it didn't work on their leader. He and Xan ended up crossing swords, and it looked like Xan was losing, but then Neera went and magic missiled the guy's face off with a spell what was amplified by a wild surge. Xan was not very happy about getting his ass saved by wild magic and refused to talk about it, or even thank Neera for helping out. He can be a bit of a stubborn ass, sometimes.

We got attacked by a big old wolf, too, and it bit me. Hurt like Hells, it did. That was nothing, though. Sometime around the afternoon, we came by this creepy rock what was covered in blood, I don't know what happened there, and I don't want to, but it looks like there was some sort of struggle. Immy, Neera, and Xan all speculated on what could've happened, each of them with completely different attitudes about it. Either way, there was this huge horde of gibberlings what came out of the trees and attacked us a few minutes later. They got me real good. Would've died if Neera hadn't covered my retreat. I was kind of useless for the second half of the battle, which felt real bad. All I could do was bolster the others through song, and even that took everything I had. Bit hard to concentrate on singing when you're bleeding in six different places. Branwen healed me up pretty good after, though, so at least there's that.

For the next few hours after, things were pretty peaceful. A simple walk through the woods. The forest was absolutely magnificent, which made us feel all nice and calm, and made Xan feel insignificant. I am honestly starting to think that there is not a thing out there what doesn't make Xan feel insignificant. It is getting to the point where it is almost comical.

That evening, we were attacked by two bandits what weren't your average garden-variety bandits. They were wearing this scary looking red and black armor and they fired these terrible arrows what made you freezing cold the second they hit you. Immy was a lot clumsier than usual, what with not being used to her new body and all, and nearly got killed, was hit with so many arrows. So, me and Branwen rushed in between Immy and the baddies and bosshammered it up. Xan came in with a glitterdust spell, blinding them before joining into the fray himself. Even blind, though, they hit hard. I mean, at least when they actually did hit. Branwen even had to bust out a Hold Person spell on one of them before it was over.

We've been here for the last couple hours, as Immy's in no condition to move and Branwen's out of healing spells. She and Rasaad are looking after Immy. I tried to help, but Branwen said I was just getting in the way and I should hang back for now.

I've been talking with Xan and Neera for most of the night. Xan's been trying to teach me a new spell, though he refused to start his lesson until he'd made absolutely sure I knew the scratches I got earlier would probably get infected or something if I didn't clean them up. He made me wash the cuts on my arms even though they were mostly closed up and healed by now thanks to Branwen's spells. So much for the emergency water in my extra waterskin. He really does worry too much, Mr. Journal.

Neera sat in on some of the lesson and seemed pretty amused by it all for some reason. Xan didn't seem to be all that comfortable with her being there, but he still let her stay. He wouldn't go right out and say it, but I think he does feel pretty bad for how he acted towards her earlier. I mean, Xan can be kind of an ass sometimes, but far as I can tell his heart's in the right place.

After the magic lesson was finished, I moved closer to the campfire so I could write. Neera hung back for a bit before coming over to the fire to start making dinner. I think she and Xan were talking about something. She seems to be in an all right mood, so maybe he apologized after all? I'd like to think he did. Not nosy enough to ask, though.

I can't help but wonder about those guys what attacked us earlier, Mr. Journal. Do you think maybe they're working for that Tazok guy we're after? I guess there's no point in worrying myself over it tonight, but I just can't get my mind off it. It just might be a real long night, Mr. Journal.

* * *

 _-Following this journal entry, two pages have been torn out, the jagged edges of the paper near the binding the only indication they were ever there in the first place.-_

* * *

Day 33, Hour 15

Good afternoon, Mr. Journal! We're getting a bit of a late start, as Immy was hurt real bad and it took Branwen a while to finish with the healing. I tried to get some writing done, songs and poems and all, but I just couldn't concentrate. I was too damn worried about Immy. Everything I did write just turned out bad. Had to rip the pages out and everything. Sorry if that hurt you at all, Mr. Journal. It wasn't my intention.

Neera seemed to notice how worried I was and all, since she proposed a bit of a distraction this morning. Even convinced Xan to join us, though I'm pretty sure I heard him mutter about how pointless the whole thing was. Anyways, Neera introduced us to something what she called the "triangle game". She would name three points that made a triangle and we had to find out whose triangle it was. Neera said the triangle could belong to anyone here. Turns out, doesn't even have to be someone playing the game, because one time, it was Branwen's. I kept guessing wrong, though. I still can't figure it out, Mr. Journal. I asked Neera how to do it but she said it would spoil the game if I didn't find out myself. I'm starting to think she's just making things up. But, that wouldn't explain why Xan started getting a lot of them right halfway through. Unless she was just saying he was right to mess with me. I don't know, Mr. Journal. Seems real weird to me. Anyway, we'll be heading out any minute now to continue our search, so I'll write you later, Mr. Journal.

* * *

A/N: And there's where we'll stop for today. Tune in next time for more bandit-hunting hijinks, and please, leave a review if you've got any question, comments, or concerns. Peace out.


	16. Chapter 16: Too Much to Bear

A/N: Hey there again. Sorry this took so long. I kept putting off proofreading it, for some reason. But it's up now, so yeah. Bluh.

* * *

Day 34, Hour 17

I'm sorry for not writing sooner, Mr. Journal, but it was another mad dash back to the temple at the Friendly Arm, and I just couldn't find time to write. We had to ask Neera to leave once we got back. I'm sad about it, and she made sure to make me feel all good and guilty about it, but after what happened, I had to.

I suppose I should start from the beginning, then. See, yesterday, we found an old stone circle in the middle of the woods, and while we were looking around, some half-mad druid jumped out of nowhere and attacked us. He thought we'd killed his friends or something, and he wouldn't listen to us when we said we had no idea what he was going on about. We were . . . forced to defend ourselves. Death . . . I can't get used to death, Mr. Journal. No matter how many damn times it happens. And this wasn't going to be the last time that day, neither.

After that, we heard shouting, so we went to investigate the noise. We found another druid being attacked by a cave bear. Looked like he was in a bad way so we jumped in to help him out. It turns out he was a friend of the druid from before. He apologized for his friend's actions, told us the poor guy had completely gone off his nut after a group of those nasty Chill bandits moved through the area and killed off most of the local druid circle. A real sad story. I still can't believe he wasn't mad at us, though. I'd sure be mad at us if I were him. Even if it _was_ self-defense. Anyways, he went off to bury his friend and we were just left standing there feeling terrible about everything.

That's when a second cave bear came crashing out of the bushes nearby and attacked. Neera tried to slam it with a spell, but she caused a wild surge and made the bear super-strong and super-fast. It tore after Immy like a damned lightning bolt and she went down before she could even draw her shortsword. I remember crying out and rushing toward the bear, but then it charged straight in the other direction and started attacking Xan. Tried to turn myself around quick as I could and throw a Magic Missile its way, but by the time it hit, it was too late. Both Xan and Immy were dead. Hells, we _all_ would have been if Branwen hadn't shown that thing who was boss with her bosshammer.

Gods, but I was a wreck most of the way back here. Couldn't stop crying. Gellana over at the temple was able to bring both of them back, thankfully, and get that cursed belt off of Immy, too, while she was at it. I hugged Immy so hard when she sat up and opened her eyes again, you have no idea. Ain't no one, not even death, what can take my sister from me.

Soon as Xan came to, he was . . . very upset to say the least. Kept going on and on all half-coherent about Neera and how she was too dangerous to keep around, sounding like he was about to fall over asleep the entire time. I guess it goes to show how strongly he felt about it. Hells, he even said he'd have to leave the group if she kept traveling with us, though I'm not sure if he'd have actually followed through with that once he was in a better state of mind.

Still, he was right. I'd been thinking about the same thing all the way back, but I wanted to get back to the Friendly Arm before making any decisions. Wouldn't do to leave a friend to fend for themselves alone in the wilderness, after all. That's just cruel. But, once we were back to civilization, I knew we had to part ways. Neera's my friend, and I like her lots, but no one puts my sister's life in danger. Or the life of the best friend I've made out here, for that matter. And I ain't about to let either of those things happen again.

The rest of us are getting rooms at the Friendly Arm now. We've been on the road since last afternoon and we're all very tired. Xan was muttering about how he's certain he'll "collapse from exhaustion before he falls on the battlefield." Branwen pointed out he'd _already_ fallen on the battlefield, and he shot her the _dirtiest_ look before shutting up. Though, I mean, I can't blame him for his mood, I'm sure I'd be grumpy too if I'd just died for the second time this month. Or even the first. Either way, he and Immy are both pretty out of it right now. We'd best get them upstairs so they can rest, and then get some rest ourselves.

* * *

Day 35, Hour 18

We've been here all day letting Immy and Xan recover. I paid Miss Unshey a visit on the second floor today and returned her Girdle of Piercing. She got quite a laugh out of it when I told her about the other girdle the ogre had. Anyways, she was real grateful to have her belt back and gave me a book she'd written. I spent most of the day reading it, and I now know more than I ever wanted to about the history of Tethyr. It sounds like a perfectly awful place. I hope I never have to go there. If I'm ever curious about the place, I can just ask Jaheira the next time we meet. I think I remember her mentioning growing up there.

I have to go down to the ground floor and meet the others for dinner now, so I'll see you later, Mr. Journal. I really do hope Immy and Xan are starting to feel a little better.

* * *

Day 36, Hour 10

Good morning, Mr. Journal. It looks like Immy and Xan are feeling better now, so we'll be heading out right after breakfast. Our experiences in the woods have shown us that we're real ill-prepared for this search, so we're headed down to Beregost to do some shopping. Heard from one of the patrons here that there's a place just west of Beregost what's called High Hedge, and that a powerful wizard lives there. Rumor has it that sometimes he's willing to sell magic stuff. If Xan and I knew some more spells, things might be easier, so we're definitely going to try paying him a visit.

* * *

Day 36, Hour 23

We've been walking to Beregost all day. We just got here, and it's real late. Nothing that exciting happened on the journey. My familiar was really energetic this morning, though. Kept begging me for pie, but I didn't have any. Strange. Usually all he does is spend all his time sleeping and lazing around in my pack and only coming out during meals to scarf down some grub. Anyways, we're going to head to High Hedge tomorrow, so I'd best get some sleep.

* * *

Day 37, Hour 7

Good morning, Mr. Journal! We're off to High Hedge today! We have an errand before we leave though. Immy reminded me this morning about that shady halfling what lost his boots, so we're going to go meet him and see if these boots we found are his. Maybe then he'll give us back the money what he stole from us a couple weeks back.

* * *

Day 38, Hour 0

Evening, Mr. Journal. It's a bit late, but I'll try to stay up long enough to give you the lowdown on today. Before leaving town for High Hedge this morning, we headed to the Burning Wizard to talk with that halfling. Turns out the boots were his, and he was real grateful. He gave us our money back and then some. Overall, a sound success!

We headed for High Hedge soon after that. On our way there, we ran into an elf what called himself Kivan who wanted our help dealing with some bandits. Of course, at the mention of bandits, I was all ears, and asked him for more details. As it turns out, he's after the same group of bandits that we are. He's looking to get revenge on Tazok for a personal matter. He wouldn't tell me exactly what that matter was, but seeing this is Tazok we're talking about it was probably something unforgivable. From his letters, and from the sods under his command, I can't imagine there's a single good thing about the man. We decided it would be a good idea to travel together, as we've both got a beef with Tazok, and there's more of a chance we'll find him and his bandits if we work as a group.

Kivan is a real quiet guy who seems to be very dark and intense. I can't really make him out, you know? It's like he's half a world away, and it's really freaking weird. Just, the way he stands there scowling and looking straight past everyone and probably thinking dark and revenge-y thoughts is . . . actually just the littlest bit scary, Mr. Journal.

Anyways, we made it to High Hedge, where the wizard's golems attacked us on sight as soon as we walked through the door. Luckily for us, he called them off when he realized we meant no harm. Turns out they were all in full attack mode because some idiot had just tied to pull off a heist there but a few minutes before we entered. Idiot wasn't around anymore, if you know what I mean. The wizard, Thalantyr, he calls himself, was kind of grumpy and grumbly at us at first, but he started acting a lot nicer when he realized we were there to buy things and had the gold to back it up. We ended up buying around a dozen spell scrolls before returning to Feldepost's Inn in Beregost.

Xan's been in his room all night figuring the scrolls out by candlelight. Sometimes I hear him muttering through the walls. I got a few simple scrolls for myself, too, and I've been trying to figure them out on my own. I'm doing better than I thought I would, probably because some of the basics what Xan's taught me so far have actually stuck. I've actually learned one of them all by myself and managed to scribe it to my spell book, but the other one still has me tripping up. I still don't quite understand the mechanics behind second circle spells, and the ones I've learned so far have been spell-by-spell, on an individual basis, and even then, only with a lot of help from Xan. I'll have to ask him about this one in the morning. I mean, he's busy now, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't appreciate the intrusion. But still! I figured out one of these all by myself, in just one night! I'm getting better at this, Mr. Journal!

Anyways, it's getting late. I'd better go off to bed now, or else I won't be ready to go on time tomorrow morning.

* * *

A/N: Aaaand there we go. Bye bye Neera. That wild surge was a bit too much. Don't worry though, it's not 100% the last we'll see of her. Also, I guess I should apologize for the horrible pun that is this chapter's title. Sorry not sorry. Stay tuned next time for an end to this brief interlude and a resumption of the bandit search! Hopefully with Kivan as an ally, this won't take too much longer, hm? Remember to favorite and subscribe if you like it, and please leave a review if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Toodles~!


	17. Chapter 17: The Wood of Sharp Teeth

A/N: At this point sometimes I feel like I'm just putting an author's note up here so each chapter is consistent, format-wise. I actually have nothing to say right now. Let's just move on. Yeahhhh!

* * *

Day 38, Hour 8

Morning, Mr. Journal. I'm just about to go downstairs for breakfast. We're probably going to stop by the Jovial Juggler before leaving town to collect the bounty on those bandits we fought the other day. After that, it's back to looking for Tazok and his group of baddies. Hopefully with a ranger like Kivan in the group, the search will go more smoothly from here on out.

* * *

Day 39, Hour 1

Well, we're finally in Larswood again, though it took most the whole day. Before I hit the sack for the night, I suppose I should tell you about it.

This morning, Xan was the only one what was already out of bed. Something about elves not needing as much rest as the rest of us. Dunno what Kivan's excuse was. Maybe he stayed up real late, thinking about revenge or something, and lost track of the time? Anyways, I told Xan about that spell I'd figured out, and about the scroll I was still having trouble with. He ended up taking me out to a field behind the inn for some practice. He showed me how to increase the effectiveness of the spell I'd learned. Said I've got good form, but I need to loosen my wrists a little. I was showing him the scroll I'd been trying to make sense of as we walked back to the inn, but when we got inside the others were waiting for us so he didn't get to give me any advice.

We talked over a lot of things at breakfast. Unfortunately, Kivan doesn't have any info about Tazok's whereabouts what we can actually use. Apparently, he's been tracking Tazok down, but he lost the trail a couple weeks ago. So much for that. We ended up deciding the best course of action would be to pick up where we'd left off and head back to Larswood, as that was our only lead.

I'm not going to bore you with the particulars of the journey, Mr. Journal. Was just a bunch of walking and idle chitchat. Only thing I can really think of off the top of my head what happened was that Xan helped me a bit with that scroll when we stopped for lunch. Other than that, just. Chitchat.

 _-After this, about a page or so of writing has been furiously scratched out. The only words that can still be somewhat made out underneath the hasty scribbles are "clouds" and "Rasaad."-_

* * *

Day 39, Hour 9

Hey there, Mr. Journal! It's a lovely morning today! I got a good feeling about today! We're going to find some bandits for sure!

* * *

Day 39, Hour 11

It's raining something fierce. We've had to take shelter in an old ruined tower. It's a little leaky, but it's a lot drier than it is out there. I'm all soaked, and I'm worrie-

 _-The ink has run all together here. Clearly some water has gotten onto the page despite Eibhilin's attempts to keep the journal safe from the rain.-_

-says we're all going to catch our deaths of cold out here, and I'm starting to believe it.

We passed a marker a while back what says "Wood of Sharp Teeth." I think we might be lost, as that's not a name I've heard before. Not that I'd know from looking around, though. I can barely even see outside, the rain's falling down so damn thick. Hope it lets up soon.

* * *

Day 39, Hour . . . something. Definitely nighttime.

The rain just now let up, though we've been having to walk around in it for a pretty long while. We had to clear out of that little old tower pretty quick – there was this loud cracking noise, and suddenly stones started falling all around us. We only just managed to get out of there before the whole thing collapsed on top of our heads. And, luckily, I managed to stuff you into my pack just in time to keep you from getting all wet and ruined. Silver linings, Mr. Journal, silver linings.

Anyways, everything around here looks real unfamiliar, and I'm afraid we might be completely lost. I've got no idea where we are, and it doesn't help things that it's so damn dark out here. It's still all cloudy and I can't see the moon or the stars. What time is it, anyway? The rain just completely threw me off. Oh well. Guess the only thing to do now is help set up camp and try to get some sleep. We can worry about where in the world we've ended up once it's morning.

* * *

Day 40, Hour 11

Morning, Mr. Journal. Yeah, this place is definitely unfamiliar. It's still woods and all, but there are lots of rocks sticking up all jagged out of the ground like some monster's fangs. I suppose that's where the place gets its name, huh? Either way, we are most definitely lost.

We discussed what to do over breakfast this morning. We all had different viewpoints on the situation. Immy sees it as an opportunity for adventure, and I'd be like to agree with her, if we didn't have more pressing matters at hand. Branwen's not too torn up over it, she says as long as we start walking in one direction, we're bound to end up somewhere eventually, and we can ask for directions once we get there. Until then, she says, "great warriors" like us should have no trouble braving a few days in the wilderness. I'm not sure which group she's been traveling with this whole time, but apparently, it's not ours. Rasaad believes this may be part of a bigger plan. Some sort of test or something. Xan is, as you'd expect, convinced that we're now doomed to die out here in the wilderness and there's nothing we can do about it but resign ourselves to our fate.

Kivan seems a little annoyed at being diverted off course but rather than talk about his opinions he just started going over the facts and trying to find some solutions. The rainstorm last night wiped away our tracks, so we can't just trace our path back. Because of this we'll have to find another way to get our bearings. He says he'll be on the lookout for any signs what could tell us more about where we are, but for the moment, we should try to move forward, as we're not getting any less lost sitting here, and we're definitely not getting any closer to Tazok and his merry band of cutthroats and brigands. Of course, he said it in a lot less words, but I'm pretty sure that's basically what he meant.

I guess we should hurry up and get going, then.

* * *

Day 40, Hour 22

These woods are a terrible place, Mr. Journal. They're full of ettercaps and all sorts of giant spiders. I don't like it. Not one bit. We've been stuck here resting for several hours, as we're in no shape to go on.

So, how did we get to this point? Boy, you are lucky I am a storyteller by trade, Mr. Journal. So, soon after we set off this morning, we ran into some weird priest guy what talked about karma and other stuff. We asked him for directions, but the only thing we could get him to tell us is that we were in the Wood of Sharp Teeth, just like the marker we passed yesterday said. Wouldn't tell us what direction we had to go in to get back. He said he might help us if we got his scroll back from some ettercaps, though.

They were real nasty little sods, they were. Somehow, we managed to get out without being too hurt or anything. But, when we brought the scroll back to the weird priest, he just told us to keep it and said that'd be his help to us. So, we were just as lost as before. And as if that weren't bad enough, it started raining again, too!

So, we went on, undeterred by the weird priest guy's weird priest shenanigans, but then we ran into a whole lot of spiders. Big spiders. Spiders around my size. Did I mention I hate spiders, Mr. Journal? We managed to hack our way through them, but one of them bit Kivan and its venom did a real number on him. He's real ill and weak, and he can barely move. We found a place what looked kind of safe on the sheltered side of one of these big old rocks all over the place. Some kind of overhang. Didn't keep the rain off perfect, but it was better than nothing.

Not but a few minutes ago, another one of them giant spiders – different kind from before – attacked us while we were stopped. We were barely able to fight them off, and now Xan's been poisoned too. He looks like he's in a lot of pain, but there's nothing what I can do to help. Branwen's doing what she can for both Xan and Kivan, but, like the rest of us, she's near out of spells. And, like a bunch of idiots, we forgot to restock on antidote when we were back in town. Now we're two men down and they're both just going to have to wait it out and it's terrible. I hope they're going to be all right, Mr. Journal. I'd feel right awful if something bad happened to them because I'm a bad leader what forgot to go get antidote before we left. At least the damn rain's stopped.

* * *

Day 41, Hour 6

Morning, Mr. Journal. We're all just about ready to get going again. Xan's made a full recovery. Kivan still seems a bit out of it, but he insists he's going to be all right and that we should focus on hunting down Tazok and his bandits. That would be a much easier task if we had any idea where we were. Of course, right now, we've got to find a way back to the Friendly Arm Inn. It's getting to be about time to report back to Khalid and Jaheira again, and by "about time", I mean we're already a day late. Hopefully, they've had more luck than us.

Luckily, the sky's not that overcast anymore, so we can use the position of the sun to tell what direction we're going. If we start heading west, we should hit the main road between Beregost and the Friendly Arm eventually.

* * *

Day 42, Hour 1

We set off west this morning in the hopes of finding our way back to the Friendly Arm Inn. On our way, we found some overgrown ruins where a bunch of Red Wizards were hiding out. They came out of the ruins and tried to kill us just for being in their line of sight. Red Wizards are butts, Mr. Journal. Butts, every one of them. Almost immediately, they set off a Stinking Cloud spell, and suddenly I couldn't breathe right and lost consciousness. When I came to, the cloud was gone, there was only one of them left, and Branwen was heading right for him with her BOSSHAMMER. She seems to be the one doing all of the bosshammering these days, Mr. Journal. I'd better pick up the pace. Can't let myself fall behind!

Anyways, I got the whole story from Immy after. Apparently, she, Kivan, and Xan all managed to make it out of the cloud before the poison gas got to them. She and Kivan circled 'round and fired off arrows while Xan dropped a bunch of sleep and charm spells on them. Branwen and Rasaad came to right before I did and joined the fight. And I missed every second of it. We did find a lot of neat magical items they'd stashed nearby, though. At least I was around for that bit.

We continued west and got attacked by an ankheg, but we ran away real fast and managed to escape. It just sort of lost interest in us after we'd gotten far away enough out of its territory. After we'd lost it, we stopped to rest our tired feet, but just as we'd started to get comfortable we got ambushed by kobolds! We were totally surrounded by the annoying little buggers. It was a pretty easy fight though, I mean, they were just kobolds.

You know, Mr. Journal, I think this is the best Xan's ever done in an encounter with kobolds. And by the best, I mean he didn't scream like a little girl, or faint, or try to run away like he seems to do every time the nasty critters show up. Part of me says I should congratulate him, but the other part of me says it'd just look like I were making fun of him if I did.

Anyways, we're all real tired, but we clearly can't rest here. It's too dangerous. At least the scenery is starting to look familiar now. I'm pretty sure we're just east of Beregost.

* * *

Day 42, Hour 7

We made it into Beregost just as the sun rose. We could rest at Feldepost's but we've all decided to just keep going soon as we've stopped for breakfast. We're already late going to the Friendly Arm Inn, and we can rest once we get there. Don't want to keep Khalid and Jaheira waiting. Besides, it's a wonder what the sun can do for your energy levels. It's morning, and it feels like morning, even if you never said good night. I mean, yeah, I guess I'm a little sleepy, and my eyes kind of sting, and my nose is a bit runny, but it doesn't seem to be anything major. I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll be on our way soon.

* * *

A/N: And I think that's a pretty good stopping point. Tune in next time as our heroes return to the Friendly Arm Inn to report their findings (or rather, lack thereof) to Khalid and Jaheira! Don't worry, actual plot is going to happen sometime in the next few chapters, I swear! Until then, please like and subscribe if you enjoy the story, and if you've got questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to review! Reviews are always appreciated~


	18. Chapter 18: A Fistful of Neeras

A/N: So I just couldn't stop writing, like holy crap I just wanted to write and write until both my hands fell off. So, you get another chapter tonight (or this morning, if you're a real stickler for details). It's a super long one, too! Six whole pages in Word! I think that's a new record for me.

* * *

Day 42, Hour 20

We've just made it to the Friendly Arm, and we're all EXHAUSTED. Just about to fall over on the floor. Except Xan, because he already did, about five minutes ago. He started lagging behind soon after we left Beregost. I keep forgetting what little stamina he's got. We really should've stopped to rest before this. You know, Mr. Journal, I used to think it was just an elf thing or something like that. Being all fragile and squishy and delicate and not able to travel too far without rest, I mean. But, Kivan doesn't have any of those problems, so I'm starting to think that maybe it's just a Xan thing.

Anyway, long story short, pushing on to the Friendly Arm Inn was a bad idea, sleep is good, and that's a thing what we need to do. Yeah.

Khalid and Jaheira aren't here, anyway. First I thought maybe they just got fed up of waiting and left since we were late and all, but old Bentley says they haven't been in for nearly two weeks. Something's real off about that, Mr. Journal. But, I'm just real sleepy right now, so I'll try thinking about it again in the morning, okay?

* * *

Day 43, Hour 6

Morning, Mr. Journal. Everyone's in a much better mood now that they've got some sleep. We all just finished a nice, early breakfast. Khalid and Jaheira still aren't here. I guess they're running a little late. Probably a good thing, as that means at least they won't know how late we were in getting here. We're going to stay here and wait for them until they show up. Right now, it's just me, Immy, Xan, and Rasaad. Kivan mentioned something about fighting bravely to Branwen and they went off to talk at another table. Presumably to swap battle tips or something? I don't know. Warrior stuff, I guess. Anyways, write you later, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 43, Hour 18

After breakfast this morning, Rasaad went up to his room to meditate and Xan went up to his room to study some of the scrolls we'd gotten off the Red Wizards on our way back to Beregost. He stopped and handed one of them to me before he went up the stairs. Said it was useless to him since it was an evocation spell, but maybe I might could find a use for it. Kivan and Branwen were still talking amongst themselves, and Kivan looked kind of upset about something. Since there was really nothing much else to do, Immy and I slipped out to have a morning walk around the inn grounds and enjoy the nice day. First we stopped by the temple to pick up some antidotes and healing potions, so we didn't run the risk of getting into another jam like the one what we'd found ourselves in a few days ago. Then, we just walked around inside the inn's walls. It was a real pretty day, and lots of folks were out and about, taking advantage of the nice weather.

We ran into an older woman what called herself Joia and she asked us for our help. Said she'd had her ring stolen from her by hobgoblins right outside the inn's walls! Didn't seem too tough or like it'd require us to stray too far from the Friendly Arm, so me and Immy agreed to help. Right as we were fixing to go through the front gate, we ran into Branwen and Kivan. Seems they'd finished talking and had decided to join us in our walk. We told them about the situation, and Branwen was more than happy to help. Kivan didn't really react at all, but he followed us out the gate, so I took that to mean he was going along with us on our little quest.

So, we went and walked around the outside of the Friendly Arm Inn, on the road what circles 'round the wall. The first group of hobgoblins we ran into didn't have it, but the second group did. Both were real easy fights though. Honestly, most of us didn't even fight at all. Branwen pretty much took them out all by herself. We didn't even get the time to run in and help. We found some other nice stuff on the hobgoblins, too, aside from the ring, including a scroll what I couldn't figure out.

We went back inside the walls and returned the ring to Joia, who was real grateful. As she walked off, Kivan actually smiled a little and said all quiet-like, "That was a noble deed." It is nice to know he is capable of making a face other than that real "grrrrr" scowl of his. His smile is still near as scary-looking as his scowl, but I guess it's the effort that counts, Mr. Journal.

After that, we went back inside. I went straight to Bentley and sold off some of the stuff what we'd gotten off the hobgoblins. While I was over by the bar, Neera came over and tried to convince us to let her back on the team. Said no, of course, but man is she good at that guilt tripping stuff. Made me feel like a right horrible person, it did. It was all I could do to keep reminding myself why we'd let her go in the first place.

Anyway, after that, I went upstairs. Decided to visit Xan before going to my room. Figured he'd get more use out of the scroll I'd found than I would. I'm surprised he actually responded when I knocked on the door, though. Usually when he gets real caught up in his studying, he doesn't hear stuff like that. So, I gave him the scroll, and as he looked at it, I heard him mutter that perhaps we'd survive longer than he'd originally thought. Guess it was a good scroll.

Course, then he wanted to know where I'd found it, and then I had to tell him about the hobgoblins. I was full expecting to get a long lecture on how I could have gotten myself killed and that I was a huge fool and whatnot, but it never happened. Instead, he just got real quiet for a moment and then asked why we left without coming to get him. Sounded real disappointed, too. Made me feel just awful. I swear, today must just be "make Linn feel bad about stuff" day, and I wasn't told. All I could say to him was that I'd figured he wouldn't want to be disturbed while he was studying magic and all. After that, I just kind of left and went to my room, because things were awkward and uncomfortable, and, besides that, I think he probably wanted me to leave after that. I know I'd want me to leave after that. I hope he's not mad at me, Mr. Journal.

Spent the rest of the afternoon studying that one scroll what Xan gave me this morning. It's about time to go downstairs and meet the others for dinner. I'm a little nervous, Mr. Journal. What if Neera's still down there giving everyone ugly looks? And more important, what if Xan's still upset? And oh gods, what if Rasaad reacts anywhere near the same way Xan did once he finds out about the hobgoblins? I don't think I can handle any more people being disappointed in me, least of all him.

* * *

Day 43, Hour 19

Dear Mr. Journal:

Neera was at another table on the other side of the room, distracted by a large hunk of bread.

Xan is not mad at me.

Rasaad is being real cool about the whole thing.

I am so relieved, you've got no idea.

* * *

Day 44, Hour 11

Khalid and Jaheira still aren't here.

This morning when I went down for breakfast, there were a bunch of Neeras in the main room. Like, at least ten Neeras. Couldn't help but wonder if there'd been another wild surge in the middle of the night. During our meal, Neera (I assume the real one, as the other didn't seem to speak at all,) who seemed to be a little tipsy, came up to our table and boasted about how she didn't need us for protection no more, so the joke's on us.

I suppose the Neera army was intentional, then.

Still creeps me out a little, though, Bunch of the same person walking around. I hope Khalid and Jaheira make it here soon, because this stay at the Friendly Arm is just getting odder and odder.

* * *

Day 44, Hour 14

This song is dedicated to Neera. All ten of them.

The army's on the march  
And they all have the same face  
They're eating all the food  
And they're crowding up the place

The army's on the march  
And they're all one and the same  
They've all got the same goal  
And they've all got the same name

Neera Army!  
Red Wizards beware!  
Now she's ten times stronger than before

Neera Army!  
Red Wizards take care!  
She's gonna use you to mop up the floor

She doesn't even need us anymore...

P.S. Neera (the real one, maybe) started looking over my shoulder when I was about halfway done. She says she still hasn't totally forgiven us for leaving her here at the inn but that she would really like to use this as her theme song. I told her okay, since it is about her, after all. I'm even letting her pick the tune.

* * *

Day 44, Hour 19

Still no Khalid and Jaheira. We all spent most of the day inside. I talked with my familiar for a while. It's so rare when he's not sleeping in my pack these days. I asked him if maybe he could show his face around more often and whatnot. He said that if I got him some pie, then maybe he would think about it. It took quite some money to convince the inn's cooks to bake one, as it wasn't on the menu for the day, but it was worth it. He's real happy now. Course, he also asked me why I hadn't given him a name yet, and then I just felt real stupid. Couldn't think of one. I guess I just sort of assumed he already had one and was waiting for him to tell me what it was. I asked him what he'd like to be called, and he said he'd have to think about it.

Also, Immy came to me this evening and admitted she'd picked up a scroll off those hobgoblins yesterday too and hadn't told us. She'd meant to surprise us by figuring out what it was all on her own, but she couldn't tell a thing about it, so she asked me to take a look. It looks like some sort of protection scroll, but it's all . . . different. I wish I could say more than that, but I'm still not all that good at magic, Mr. Journal. About half of this thing looks like nonsense scribbles to my poor, untrained eyes. I gave it to Xan tonight at dinner, asked him to see if he could identify it. He says he'll look into it. Anyway, not much else to do but get ready for bed, even if it is early.

* * *

Day 45, Hour 5

Going to bed early means waking up early, and boy, I sure did, Mr. Journal. I was downstairs in the wee hours. Surprisingly enough, Xan was already down there too, and he looked real upset about something. I went over and asked him what was wrong, and he said he'd made a really bad mistake. Turns out he got up after a few hours of rest and decided to start studying Immy's scroll, but it was cursed, and he accidentally triggered it. He told me his head feels all foggy now and its really hard for him to remember big words or think too much. He's worried he won't be able to cast any spells like this. He then confided in me that he was for sure this was the day we were all going to die, and then he said he needed a drink and went up to the bar. I told him it probably wasn't a good idea to go drinking if his mind was already all jumbled and messed up from the scroll, especially since he's already such a lightweight, but he didn't listen to me.

The others came down soon after for a real early breakfast. We talked about what to do next. I've been getting real worried about Khalid and Jaheira, I mean, what if something happened to them? It turns out the others feel the same way. We've unanimously agreed that if they're not here by the end of the day then tomorrow morning we're going to go out and look for them. Well. Almost unanimously. Xan thinks we should try to summon them by calling out to them with our minds. I don't even know how to react to that. He's completely smashed, Mr. Journal, and it is the most ridiculous thing ever.

* * *

Day 45, Hour 23

Today has been interesting, to say the least, Mr. Journal. Right after breakfast Xan announced he was going for a walk to clear his head. Well, I was right worried that the way he was he'd do something stupid and get himself into trouble, and I said maybe it would be best if we all went on a walk. He wouldn't hear of it, though. Said he wanted to be alone with his thoughts. I kept insisting, though, and finally he agreed to at least let me go along with him. The others were perfectly content to stay inside anyway, to tell you the truth. But, I couldn't just let him go out there alone when he wasn't thinking straight. Sure enough, we ended up walking outside the walls, around the inn. He was all stumbling around and muttering half-nonsense about things he was worried about. Really couldn't tell what he was going on about for the most part. I think he was slipping in and out of, like, elf language or something.

After about half an hour of this he suddenly got real quiet and stopped in his tracks. Then he turned to look at me and he just said all serious-like, "Eibhilin."

And I was all, "Yeah?"

And then he looked like he was all deep in thought and stuff, and then there was a pause, and then, "...I'm drunk."

And I just said, "Yeah. Yeah, you are."

I mean, he was being _super_ serious about all of this. Like, ridiculously serious. I actually think it was around that time the curse wore off and he could think clearer, and all. It was just kind of hard to tell since he was hammered. He was kind of surprised to see we were outside the inn's walls. Must've not been aware of his surroundings at all before that. We were about halfway around by then, though, so we just kept moving on instead of turning back. I figured we'd get back to the entrance in about the same time that way. Xan didn't really have any opinion on it at all, save for telling me real loud that he didn't like being this drunk and if felt like he didn't have any control over himself. He was trying so very hard to stand up straight, Mr. Journal. It was kind of sad, really.

We got attacked by a hobgoblin on the way back, and I told Xan to let me handle it. Didn't want badly aimed spells flying all over the place. Luckily, I was able to take care of the hobgoblin before it hurt either of us. Found a scroll on it too. Xan got real panicky when he saw me holding it and said real forceful-like that he wasn't going to get anywhere near it. I told him not to worry, that I'd figure it out myself so if it was another cursed one he wouldn't have to deal with it.

After we got back to the inn, I helped Xan get back up the stairs to his room so he could sleep the booze off. Or, whatever that thing is that elves do instead of sleep. Reverie? Reverie. Man, that is just the kind of word that sounds real awkward in a sentence. What do you even call going into a reverie? Reverizing? Revering? Not-sleeping? Not-sleeping. Let's go with that.

So, Xan was not-sleeping for a few hours, and I was checking out that scroll I'd found. It wasn't cursed, and I learned a new spell! Hooray for me!

This evening around dinnertime, Xan had sobered up, though he was complaining the rest of the night about how much his head hurt. I mean seriously, I was downstairs confiding in Rasaad about my worries concerning Khalid and Jaheira when Xan came down into the main room and I swear we could both hear the moaning before we even saw him start to come down the stairs. I tried to be all nice and sociable-like to him and also talk real quiet so as not to make things worse, but he really didn't seem to appreciate my telling him about how the scroll we found this morning wasn't another cursed one like he'd been so scared it was. I decided to leave him alone for the rest of the night and just hung out with Immy after dinner and told her all about this morning. She thought it was funny. I really don't see it, though. I mean, I guess drunk people are funny sometimes, but if she'd seen just how distressed Xan had looked throughout the whole thing I don't think she'd think it was funny. It's kind of hard for things to be funny when people are sad. Anyway, Mr. Journal, it's late and I need to sleep, so I'll see you in the morning.

* * *

Day 46, Hour 7

Good morning, Mr. Journal. We've just finished discussing our course of action. While we searched in Larswood to the east, Khalid and Jaheira were supposed to have gone to Peldvale. As that's just north of where we were searching, we've decided to go back to Larswood and head northward from there. I really hope they haven't gotten into any trouble. We've told Bentley our report for the past tenday or so and told him that if Khalid and Jaheira showed up while we were gone, he should give them the report for us and tell them we'd gone off to Peldvale looking for them.

My familiar has decided that he wants me to call him Swiftwing, and he's going to be out traveling with us like a proper member of the group this time. Xan doesn't think it's a good idea for me to be letting my familiar out in the open like this when there are so many enemies what could hurt him, and he said as much. I think he's just worrying too much, though. Swiftwing's smarter than he looks, and it'll be nice for once to feel like he's actually there, you know? Besides, Immy's all for it. The two of them are already getting along real well. It should be a lot of fun. Of course, we can't go forgetting the serious nature of our quest. We've got to track down those bandits, and find Khalid and Jaheira, too!

* * *

A/N: Aaand now I'm sleepy, so this is where we end. By the way, the Neera army thing actually kind of happened in-game. Apparently, since the new Enhanced Edition characters go to wait at the Friendly Arm, a new copy of them spawns there and the old copy disappears. But, if you let go of them while you're inside the Friendly Arm Inn, the old copy doesnt disappear and the spawn code, I dunno, goes berserk and acts up whenever you re-enter the area. Long story short one morning I went downstairs and there were ten Neeras at the bar. So, I did what any reasonable role-player would when encountered with such a glitch and wrote it into the story. Anyway, stay tuned next time as our heroes journey to Peldvale in search of their missing friends! Please remember to like and subscribe if you like what you see, and if you have questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to leave a review – reviews are always appreciated! ShoujoOnmyouji, signing off. Toodles!


	19. Chapter 19: Bosshammer Mark Two

A/N: Boy, am I on a roll this week! At this rate, it won't be too long before I've caught up to where I was in game and I can start PLAYING again! Hopefully. Anyways, here's the chapter.

* * *

Day 46, Hour 23

We've been walking all day, but we finally made it to Peldvale! No sign of Khalid and Jaheira yet, but I'm sure we'll find them. We just gotta! Immy and me spent a lot of our time on the way playing "I Spy" with Swiftwing. Of course, that got boring after a couple of hours. Except when you run into interesting stuff, there's only so many things you could be looking at in the woods. After a while, it starts getting pretty easy to guess.

Couldn't really bother anyone else, neither. Kivan was too busy tracking and doing his ranger stuff to talk with me, and Branwen was helping him out. Rasaad looked like he was in quiet contemplation of something, and it seemed it would be awful rude to disturb him. And Xan was walking along with his face stuck right in his spellbook most the whole time. I'm surprised he even managed to stay with the group and not wander off or run into a tree or something. I mean, I sure as Hells can't read or write while I walk. I mean, I used to try but I stopped after it caused too much trouble. Remember that, Mr. Journal? That time I almost knocked Khalid over in the Nashkel Mines? Aw man, memories. So anyway, with Immy and me bored out of our minds and everyone else indisposed, everything just sunk into silence, and the next few hours before we reached Peldvale and set up camp were awful dull.

Xan helped me gather firewood for the campfire tonight, and he apologized to me all embarrassed-like for what'd happened yesterday. Thanked me for putting up with it and making sure he didn't do anything too stupid. I told him it was nothing, really, but he still seems to be beating himself up over it. It's not like it's his fault, though, he couldn't have known that scroll was cursed to make people stupid, right, Mr. Journal?

When the two of us got back, it turned out all our hard work had been for nothing. The others ended up changing their minds about building a campfire tonight, because if the bandits were nearby, they might see us. Kivan was going on about how stealth was crucial at this stage or something. I'm lucky the moon is so bright tonight, Mr. Journal, else I wouldn't even be able to write this.

It's real cold right now. It shouldn't still be cold right now. It's almost summer. I hate it when the weather gets all weird. Because now it is _so cold._

I wish there were fire.

* * *

Day 47, Hour 7

It's much warmer this morning. Much more fitting for a day in the middle of Kythorn. I just don't know what was up with last night. That was just odd. Anyway, we've had a quick breakfast and we're about to get moving. Here's hoping we can find Khalid and Jaheira.

* * *

Day 48, Hour 11

Sorry for not writing last night, Mr. Journal, but everything just hurt too much. Damn spiders really did a number on me, they did.

Anyways. Yesterday. Right. We set off real early yesterday. We found this pond, and there was a rotting barrel half buried in mud on the shore. Immy's the one what spotted it, and all. We found some gold pieces inside and it was awesome. There were a lot of other ponds what we saw that day – this is a just a really pondy area – but none of them were as exciting as that one where we found the gold. They were mostly just wet and everywhere around them was mud. It got my boots all dirty and it sucked.

Oh, also, some gibberlings tried to ambush us while Immy was searching that barrel. The key word there is "tried". One sleep spell from Xan made them all fall over right in their tracks, and then all we had to do was beat them before they could wake up and come after us again.

We headed north from there. We were just walking through the woods, minding our own business, when suddenly this drow lady ran up to us and asked for help. I'd never seen an honest to goodness drow before, Mr. Journal. I thought they all lived underground. Then again, from the stories, I also thought they were, you know, bad guys. This lady though, she just looked scared., So, I asked her what was wrong, but before she could answer, one of them Flaming Fist guys showed up and said he was going to kill her because she was a murderer. The drow lady said she hadn't done anything, though, so I asked the Flaming Fist guy what proof he had. He admitted that he didn't have any evidence she'd committed a crime, but that her being a drow and all was evidence enough. Well, I told him that kind of reasoning is just messed up. Just because the stories say that drow are the bad guys like nine out of ten times, that's no reason to accuse someone of a crime they didn't commit. Heck, I've heard rumors of one drow who goes around doing straight up hero stuff all the time. I bet folks wouldn't try to accuse him of crimes just because of what he looks like.

Well, anyways, the Flaming Fist guy got right mad at me for questioning his logic, and he attacked us! I thought these guys were supposed to keep order around here, not go around trying to chop up travelers with legitimate questions about justice and stuff. I think I'm starting to lose my faith in the establishment, Mr. Journal. He hit me, Immy, and Rasaad with a Hold Person spell pretty early on, so we were pretty much useless. The others managed without us, though. Also, it turns out that Swiftwing is a total badass. He kicked some serious butt in that fight, and in every fight after that. And on top of that, he's the only one who made it through the whole day without a scratch.

So, anyways, we defeated the Flaming Fist guy. I don't like having to resort to violence like that, especially with an officer of the law, but I guess it can't be helped when the law around here has a policy of "kill first, ask questions later." I just hope we don't get in any trouble. If the rest of the Flaming Fist is anything like this guy, they probably won't care that we were fighting in self-defense.

The drow lady was real grateful to us for saving her, and she thanked us. Said that she was an outcast and had left the Underdark, but now she had nowhere to go and no one to give her a chance. She wanted to come along with us, but Kivan would have none of that. He says he refuses to travel with a drow. I told him it wasn't very nice to judge people before you get to know them, and I probably would have taken her along anyway to prove the point, but we had places to be and were going into danger. I couldn't ask her to stick her neck out like that when it wasn't her fight. She understood. The least I could do though was to give her a few of our healing potions and our extra potion of invisibility, just in case she got herself into trouble again. She thanked us for our kindness and we parted ways. Maybe we'll meet again one day.

We continued on our quest until we came to the gutted remains of an old wooden wagon. It was all sticking out of the ground and stuff, and it looked real weird and cool all silhouetted against the sky like that. Of course, the reason I remember the scene so vivid-like is because when I stopped to get a look at it some bandits jumped out from behind the trees and ambushed us. Xan had to use his last sleep spell to get us out of that one. One of them had a Charm Person scroll in his pack, and I took it and put it in my scroll case with the other one I already had.

It was right about then that it started pouring down rain. Of course, we were a team with a mission, and we kept going on, in spite of the storm. We ran into some weird guy on the way what told us a real morbid story about how his uncle bit the dust fighting monsters because he thought he was a good adventurer and wasn't. He seemed real enthusiastic about it, for someone who'd lost an uncle. It was really creepy. After that, he told us we could find exciting and dangerous adventures over in the Firewine Ruins, and left. I still feel bad about that halfling village, Mr. Journal. If we ever have time to go back there and take care of the kobold problem in the ruins, we should.

When the rain let up, we stopped for lunch. It was a real nice day, aside from the ground being so wet. Course, our meal got interrupted by another ambush, because dramatic timing can be a right bitch, it can. This time we ended up surrounded by a bunch of creatures what looked like gnolls, but meaner and bulkier. They had us in pretty dire straits. Branwen, Rasaad, and Xan were all hurt real bad in the fight, and it took all of Branwen's healing spells, and my abilities too, before we were ready to get moving again. By this time we were having to get a bit more creative in our fighting tactics with the spells we had left, as we were running out. Still, we moved on.

We ran into another group of bandits what gave us the usual options – our gold or our lives. It was then that I got a brilliant idea. I figured, if these bandits were operating so far from the road, they might be scouts from the group of bandits we were after. So, I started asking 'em about it, pretending I wanted to join them. Turns out I was right. So, I asked them to take us to Tazok as new recruits. Unfortunately, I don't think Kivan got the memo. He got all surprised and didn't realize it was a ruse. That reaction of his totally gave us away. The bandits got suspicious and attacked us. Luckily, with Xan's Charm Person spell and the two scrolls I had, we were able to turn half the group against each other, which made the fight a lot easier. Immy still ended up having to use the last charge on her wand of magic missiles, though.

Course, after the last bandit was dead, I found myself face to face with a very angry Kivan asking me just why I wanted to join Tazok and just what I was up to. I had to explain to him that I'd been trying to get them to take us to their camp and spare us the trouble. Perfect chance to take them apart from the inside. You know, kill two birds with one stone. Find the bandits, and, hopefully, find out what happened to Khalid and Jaheira. I mean, I can't imagine them getting into any sort of trouble what kept them from getting back to the Friendly Arm if it didn't have to do with the bandits. Honestly, they seem to be the only ones 'round here what're like to cause any real trouble. Course, I could just be naive about that, Mr, Journal, and there could be plenty of other real bad threats out here, but I figure that since they were looking for the bandits it's the most likely scenario.

Once I'd explained it, Kivan looked right sheepish about how he'd acted. Bet he felt really dumb when he realized he'd just ruined a rare chance to get at Tazok. But, at least one good thing came out of the encounter. One of the bandits had a real nice magic warhammer what I took for myself. BOSSHAMMER MARK TWO. Now with twenty percent more BOSS. Bosshammerrrrrrrr.

So, anyway, after that, we kept moving on. On the way we were attacked by a bunch of dogs, except they weren't wild dogs. They were trained war dogs. Probably belonged to the bandits, which means we're getting closer.

In the early evening, we came to another one of those ponds, and a few giant spiders came out from the bushes and attacked us. Gods, but I hate spiders. I got poisoned three times, Mr. Journal. _Three. Times._ Nearly used up all of our antidotes in that one battle! Suffice to say, they got me but good and by the end of the fight I was in such bad shape that I could barely move. What's worse, since Branwen was out of healing spells, I'd have to wait for her to prepare more in the morning. So, we set up camp there for the night. Well, the others set up camp. I mostly sat there leaning against a rock and being useless. Also miserable. And in a lot of pain. I'll say it again, Mr. Journal, I hate spiders. I hate them so much.

But, it's a new day, and I'm feeling a lot better now! We're about to leave soon. Still no sign of Khalid or Jaheira anywhere, but judging from the increase in run-ins with bandits, I'd say we're at least getting closer to their main camp.

* * *

Day 49, Hour 5

I had a real lucky morning yesterday, Mr. Journal. Soon after we set off, I found a couple gold pieces just lying on the ground. Tell me that isn't lucky!

Didn't stay lucky though. It rained for a few hours and then we got attacked by a giant spider. But not just a normal giant spider. This one just shrugged off all our spells and attacks like they were nothing! It bit Immy and then she just collapsed on the ground, trying real hard to move and stuff. Some sort of paralysis venom and whatnot. Things were looking real bad, and then I heard Xan shout at me to try to distract it a couple seconds. So, I did what I could. Mostly tried to make it mad. It was either that or sing at it, and spiders aren't exactly known for their taste in music. I looked over and saw that Xan was casting a couple spells on himself, and then suddenly he charged right at the damn thing with his Moonblade drawn, shouting that he was going to regret this later when he was lying dead on the ground covered in spider bites. Hacked it to bits, he did! Turns out the thing could only be hit by powerful magic weapons. I guess Bosshammer Mark Two wasn't good enough. That really is an impressive sword Xan's got. It's a good thing he noticed the spider's weakness when he did. Leave it to the wizard to figure out magicky things like that, I guess.

Anyways, Immy was in a real bad way after the fight so we had to stop and tend to her. Whatever kind of poison that spider had in its ...um. Nasty fangy things, made her real sick. Huge group of bandits ambushed us around sunset but luckily Xan still had a couple of sleep spells prepared. I swear, that is the most useful spell in the history of ever, and I really need to learn it, because it is made of _awesome_.

Anyways, most of us got some sleep already while we were stopped, so we're going to move on, even if the sun hasn't come up yet. Immy's feeling better now, and we've all agreed that it'll be much easier to do what we need to in the dark since we're less likely to get seen and attacked by bandits. We've got Kivan at the head of the group for now and Xan watching the rear, since elves can see real good in the dark, and the rest of us can't.

* * *

Day 49, Hour 17

We've done it, Mr. Journal! We've found the bandit camp! We're a safe ways away from it right now, but there it is! I can see it in the distance beyond those trees! Right now we're hiding out in some bushes discussing our plan of action. From the sound of it, we're going to wait until nightfall and then sneak in. That way, we'll have the element of surprise! I can't believe we've managed to come this far already. Khalid and Jaheira would be so proud of us!

… I hope they're okay.

Maybe they're down there right now.

* * *

A/N: Aw yeah, that's right, we've reached the bandit camp, and it is PLOT TIME. Tune in next time as our heroes STORM THE BANDIT CAMP. HECK YES. As always, if you like the story, please favorite and subscribe, and if you've got questions, comments, or concerns, your reviews are greatly appreciated. Toodles!


	20. Chapter 20: The Raid

A/N: Sorry for the short-ass chapter, but I figured the bandit camp deserved its own chapter and shouldn't just be lumped in with whatever happened after. The next chapter should be out either later today or tomorrow. I'm already halfway finished writing it.

* * *

Day 50, Hour 6

Gotta keep this nice and brief, Mr. Journal. We're at war here. We've made our base in some ruins just south of the bandit camp. Swiftwing is hanging out in my pack again, because even if he is a badass this is just too dangerous for him.

We had Immy and Kivan scout out the perimeter of the camp from the woods and snipe some of the bandits. The rest of us came in for a couple of precise strikes against two important guys in the camp. One of them was the leader of the Chill hobgoblins and the other was … well, I'm pretty sure he was real important, too. Immy said that when she and Kivan were scoping the place out they saw several of the bandits report into him.

Anyways, we're injured and out of spells, so we had to make a strategic retreat, but we really thinned out their numbers. Branwen says she doesn't approve of such unwarriorlike tactics, but after Immy and Kivan scouted the place, it was pretty clear there wasn't any other option. We're crazy outnumbered, even now, and it wouldn't be smart to just go charging in there. Not if we want to survive. We'll attack a second time this afternoon, before the other bandits have had a chance to regroup. Hopefully before they find the bodies and realize what's happened, but that may be asking for too much.

* * *

Day 50, Hour 19

Oh, gosh, Mr. Journal, so much has happened! We've done it! But, we also haven't done it! It's real complicated. I'd better start from the beginning.

Okay, so early this morning we were preparing to launch our final assault on the bandit camp, right? After he'd prepared his own spells, Xan spent most of that time teaching me how to do the sleep spell, which really did come in handy. I don't 100% have the hang of it yet, but it worked well enough to help. Anyways, while Xan was giving me last minute lessons, Immy snuck into the camp several times before the attack and stole a bunch of their supplies. Yeah, I know it sounds like a real dishonest thing to do, Mr. Journal, but any stuff we took from them was stuff they couldn't use to kill us anymore. Because, you know, we had it now. Not them. I felt kind of dirty going about it this way, but I just had to keep telling myself they were the bad guys what were trying to get me killed and mess stuff up all over the Sword Coast, and that they'd do the same to us, given the chance. Some of the stuff Immy got from them ended up being real useful later, too. Couple of firebreath potions and potions of fortitude.

So anyways, the time for the attack came, and we ambushed the remaining bandits from the woods. I think one of them ran off somewhere, and I haven't seen him since. Can only hope that won't come back to bite us in the arse later. So, we fought our way all the way up to Tazok's tent. After working out a quick strategy, we charged inside. There were four guys there what attacked us. There was some armored guy what mentioned the Iron Throne – That's a powerful organization in Baldur's Gate, I heard about it once in Candlekeep from one of the visitors. There was also a wizard, along with a mean old gnoll and a hobgoblin. They were like, Tazok's right hand men or something. Tazok himself wasn't there, unfortunately. Other than that, though, our strategy worked real well. We ran straight back out of the tent, and the four of them followed us. Once we were out, I aimed an Aganazzar's Scorcher right at the tent entrance while Xan drank one of the potions of fortitude. Branwen started her chant to bolster us, and Immy and Rasaad got into position and gulped down the firebreath potions. Xan cast Horror to make them panic – it worked on three of them – and then charged in with his Moonblade. Kivan's job was to keep them all near the entrance long enough for us to set the thing up. He got injured in the fight, but it weren't nothing Branwen's healing spells couldn't handle. So anyways, the three that got hit by Xan's spell ran straight into the net we'd created around the entrance with my Scorcher and the two firebreath streams from Immy and Rasaad. Xan and Kivan took care of the unaffected one.

After the fight, we went back to the tent to investigate, and there was a guy in there all tied up. We untied him, and he thanked us for helping him out. Said his name was Ender Sai and that he was a thief. Before leaving, he was able to give us some valuable information. The bandits were made up of both Chill agents and a group of human bandits called the Black Talon. He also said that rumor around the camp had been that Tazok was working for the Zhentarim, but he knew it was a lie. He said he'd only ever made enemies with one group – the Iron Throne – and look at that, Tazok had suddenly gone after him and tied him up to await his execution. So, it looks like this goes farther up than we thought. He also said that Tazok had been making regular visits to the Cloakwood forest, and that there'd been two other captives here what he'd dragged with him last time he went up. I sure hope it weren't Khalid and Jaheira, Mr. Journal. If they've been captured by that man, they're in worse trouble than we thought. Ender Sai also told us more about Mulahey and why he'd been sent down to the Nashkel Mines-apparently poisoning the mines was meant to take out Amn's main source of iron, both raising their suspicions and forcing them to look elsewhere for their iron needs. The guy seemed real happy when we told him Mulahey was dead. We thanked him for his help, and he thanked us for ours, and then he was on his way.

We searched the tent and we found some documents what showed that Tazok was reporting to someone named Davaeorn, and this Davaeorn fellow had been the one what instructed Tazok to have me killed. Along with some other stuff, of course. Most of which confirmed what Ender Sai had just told us. Looking at all this new information what's coming to light bothers me, Mr. Journal. Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say these guys were trying to start a war! Gods, I hope that's not the case. Still got no idea why they think I'm important enough to need killing, though. I mean, they've been at this since before I got involved with this iron investigation, so it can't just be that I've made myself a thorn in their side by doing that.

Kivan seems way more upset than usual. I think he was really expecting this to be over by now, like, that we'd find Tazok here and he could get his revenge. But, Tazok isn't here, and I think that's really eating at him. I'd try talking to him about it, maybe offering some support, but he really doesn't seem like the type who'd want to talk about his feelings. It might be best to leave him be for now. Still, I do wonder just what happened that made him want revenge so bad.

Anyhow, it looks like the next logical course of action would be to go to Cloakwood. We're going to head back to the Friendly Arm Inn and figure out what to do about it. You know, go somewhere safe and make sure we've got our game plan all laid out.

...I really hope Khalid and Jaheira are all right. Do you think they're the prisoners Ender Sai was talking about, Mr. Journal? I know I shouldn't wish it upon anyone at all, but still, I really hope it was someone else, you know? I'm not a bad person for thinking that, am I?

* * *

A/N: And there we have it. Tune in next time as our heroes plot out their next course of action and prepare for their trek into the Cloakwood! As always, please favorite and subscribe if you like what you see, and if you've got any questions, comments, or concerns, reviews are always appreciated! Seeya!


	21. Chapter 21: Preparations

A/N: And here I am, five minutes to midnight, uploading this. I said I'd get out a second chapter today and by golly I've done it. With like, no time to spare.

* * *

Day 52, Hour 0

We just now made it to the Friendly Arm. We've been walking here pretty much nonstop since real early in the morning. We left first thing after resting for the night in the ruins south of the bandit camp. We're right exhausted, just like we were after storming the bandit camp last night, so the first thing for us to do is get some rest. Tomorrow, we're going to figure things out all proper-like.

Oh. But guess who we met when we were going up the inn steps? Elminster. Again. I can't imagine what someone like him would want with someone like me, but this is the third time we've run into each other, and I'm starting to think it may be more than just coincidence.

Anyways, Mr. Journal, I am much too tired to think on what exactly all this could mean tonight. Right now, I just want to sleep.

* * *

Day 52, Hour 8

Morning, Mr. Journal. Kivan seems a little less upset now than he has been for the last two days. I think that's a good sign, but then again, he could just have calmed down enough to hide it better. Um. Anyway. Here's what we've decided. Before going to Cloakwood, we're headed to Beregost to restock and stuff. Now we could just do that here, but we've agreed that Beregost's the best place to unload some of the loot we've got. And believe me, Mr. Journal, we have got a _lot_ of loot. So much that I didn't even try writing it all down here. Those bandits were damn _loaded_. At this point, all of our packs are getting hard to carry with all the weight, and we'll probably get a better price for all this in a big town like Beregost. Besides, if we go there, we can collect the bounty from Officer Vai for all the bandits we took care of. I mean, not to sound all mercenary or anything, but a little gold is always nice. Helps us buy stuff that keeps us from getting killed.

* * *

Day 52, Hour 22

The road to Beregost was crazy busy today. Stopped to speak with a lot of travelers, ran into several xvart raiding parties, and even got attacked by a group of bandits! Guess some of them still haven't gotten the memo that we kick bandit _arse_. We're also soaking wet from a freak rainstorm what came out of nowhere. Xan has worked himself into a panic worrying he's going to catch cold. I swear this happens every time we get caught in the rain. Every. Damn. Time. Xan needs to take it down a notch before he straight up s _cares_ himself to death. Honestly, the only real danger from the rain as far as I can see is coming out of it looking like a half-drowned cat, which I do at the moment, by the way. Totally owning the half-drowned cat look right now. It's the new half-drowned fashion trend. Damn uncomfortable, though.

Anyway, we're staying at the Jovial Juggler tonight. We just spoke with Vai, who paid us real nice for taking care of those bandits. And now, we're having a late dinner. Branwen and Kivan are at their own table talking to each other about warrior stuff again, as these tables only seat four each. I mean, I assume they're talking about warrior stuff, them both being all warriory and all. But maybe they're talking about something else, like what happened at the bandit camp or Kivan's desire for revenge, or maybe Branwen is telling him about Tempus, who is the most badass god.

There's another bard playing real upbeat music in here right now, and it's great. Swiftwing is out and about, and he seems to enjoy the festive atmosphere, though he did steal some of my food, which makes me feel a bit put out. I was real hungry, after all, and I wanted to eat all of that food, Mr. Journal. If Swiftwing wanted to eat, he could have just told me so and I'd have ordered some pie for him. Apple pie, even, and that's his favorite!

It's getting a bit late though, so I should finish eating what little I have left on my plate after Swiftwing decimated it and get upstairs for some rest.

* * *

Day 53, Hour 6

Morning, Mr. Journal! We're just about to go sell off some stuff and get some supplies for our trip to Cloakwood. Kivan says he's been over in that area once in the past, and that there were a lot of wyverns and giant spiders around those parts, so we'd better stock up on antidote just in case. Gods, but I hope we don't run into more giant spiders. I think I've said as much before, Mr. Journal, but I hate giant spiders. I hate them _so much_.

We're just finishing up breakfast now. There's some paladin sitting at the other table right across from us, and he won't stop whining real loud about half-ogres. I think I remember him from the last time we were here, but I'm not sure. If I did meet him last time, then I wasn't exposed to his complaining for half as long, and he weren't half as annoying as he is right now. If he's so bent up over these half-ogres he keeps going on about, why doesn't he just do something about it? I mean, smiting evil is kind of what paladins do, and I don't think I've met a single half-ogre what wasn't evil. Either way, I hope we're going to leave soon. That man's voice is getting on my nerves.

* * *

Day 54, Hour 0

Today we went all around Beregost gathering up supplies. We sold off some weapons and armor and stocked up on ammo at the Thunderhammer Smithy, managed to sell some random stuff at Feldepost's inn – the innkeep there's got an eye for oddities – and, then we stopped by the Song of the Morning Temple to buy a bunch of antidote to protect us from the spiders that I hope we will never meet. After all that, we made the eight hour walk to High Hedge to buy other potions and magic stuff, and to sell some extra scrolls we had. Got attacked on our way back though, by a huge group of skeletons with throwing knives! They all aimed for poor Xan at once. Nearly killed him, too. Probably would have if he hadn't panicked and run off at that point. After the fight, Branwen and I had to track him down before he could bleed to death or get himself attacked by a wild animal or something. Lucky thing Branwen had Remove Fear prepared today. I swear, Xan can be a real handful sometimes. I mean, the man attracts trouble just like, um. A really attractive thing. To trouble, I mean. Um. I'm pretty sure that's not how the metaphor went. Point still stands though. Seems like every monster from here to Neverwinter can't wait to knock him one over the head.

Doesn't help things that he can be real hard to deal with sometimes. He questions all our plans, complains a lot, and seems to find a way to put a negative spin on most everything. Funny thing is, I really don't mind it near as much as I should. Not the part about every monster wanting to knock him over the head, I mean, I don't want to see him get hurt, but, the dealing with him part. He's grown on me, Mr. Journal. I like having him around. In fact, aside from Immy, the man's probably just about the best friend I've got out here. Funny how things turn out that way. Aw, listen to me rambling on, Mr. Journal, when all that's not even important. The important thing is we're all in one piece, and we're all stocked up and headed for Cloakwood first thing in the morning. Speaking of which, it's getting late, and unless I get to sleep right quick, I may have trouble getting up for that tomorrow. Good night, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 54, Hour 8

We're just leaving the Jovial Juggler now on our way to Cloakwood. Not much else to say, except, well…

Wish us luck.

* * *

A/N: And there we go. Tune in next time as our heroes finally venture into the Cloakwood. As always, if you like what you see, please favorite and follow, and, if you have questions, comments, or concerns, reviews are always, always appreciated. Toodles!


	22. Chapter 22: Kivan Takes the Lead

A/N: Welp. I thought I could keep writing tonight, and now it's two in the morning and I regret everything but damn I just want to get more of this story out. I really should pace myself better.

* * *

Day 54, Hour 21

We were a little late leaving for Cloakwood that morning, as Swiftwing failed to live up to his name and fell behind. Apparently, he got distracted by a particularly interesting flower and had stopped to look at it. We had Kivan take the lead once we left Beregost, as he'd been to Cloakwood before and likely knew the area better than us. I asked him about what had brought him up there in the first place. Told me it was just before he met us. He'd been tracking down Tazok and the trail had lead him straight to Cloakwood. But, he didn't find Tazok there, and that's where he'd lost the trail. After that he'd headed south out of the forest to get his bearings and ended up around High Hedge, not a day before we ran into him. Considering the info we got from Ender Sai, he probably just missed him. Must be frustrating.

Anyway, Kivan's led us up the Lion's Way, and then, instead of stopping at the Friendly Arm, we're taking the shorter way there – through the woods near the Candlekeep Coastway. I don't like this one bit, Mr. Journal. It's got me antsy. Place brings back too many bad memories. I haven't been here since... well, since that night.

Unfortunately, it's starting to get dark. So we have to camp out here. Nope, don't like this at all.

* * *

Day 55, Hour 6

Last night during supper, Rasaad seemed to notice I was troubled. Seemed pretty worried about me. We talked for a while. It was nice. Made me feel a little better. We don't usually get to talk like that much, which is a right shame, because times like these, it feels like he knows just what to say.

After everyone had gone to sleep, I snuck off to go visit Gorion's grave. Pay my respects and all. After all, it was only a short walk from where we were, and, well, I just felt like I really _had_ to, you know? Turns out Immy'd had the same idea, and I ended up running into her there. So, we just stood there in real solemn silence. She'd picked some flowers on the way there. We laid them down on top of the mound together. Was a real sad night. I still feel sad. Like everything inside me is sinking into quicksand. So much has been going on this last month and a half, I just now realized that, well, Immy and me, we never really got proper time to grieve and all. Was just a thing that had to get pushed back and back to make room for survival and stuff. And even now, we still don't have time. I feel like I can barely stand, Mr. Journal. But I've got to. We're supposed to get going soon.

* * *

Day 56, Hour 6

We've just now made it to the edge of Cloakwood. We've been walking all day straight, and I'm exhausted. Not even straight-up walking, either. The trip up here was a regular hike! But the sun's just coming up so there's really no time to sleep. Kivan insists that we move on for at least a little while longer. Says Cloakwood's a pretty big place and we still need to cover more ground before he feels comfortable with stopping.

Xan and me have been walking pretty close to each other for most of the day. He noticed that I was sad this morning, and, well, misery loves company, I guess. Said that I looked even more hopeless than he felt. I really didn't want to talk about it though. He seemed okay with that. After a while walking in silence, we started talking quite a bit about other stuff, and, the way he was acting, I think he may have been trying to comfort me or something. Get my mind off what's been bothering me. Of course, it's hard to tell with him, considering he isn't exactly all that good at lifting people's spirits, and the way he goes about trying to is … unique, to say the least. He's been hanging around pretty close even after we stopped talking, like he's concerned and looking out for me or something. I think it's right good of him, especially when he must be tired out from this walk. I know I am.

Anyways, I'd better get moving, Mr. Journal. Wouldn't want to fall behind, now!

* * *

Day 57, Hour 2

This has gotten out of hand, Mr. Journal. Kivan is going too far. He's been acting different ever since we got to Cloakwood. Harsh. Driven. Now that he's getting close to his goal, it seems like he's starting to care less and less for his own well being, ready to push forward no matter what the cost. I think he may have forgotten that we're here, too, and we've got limits. I'm scared, Mr. Journal. Bad things are happening and I'm scared.

So. The day in a nutshell. A really big nutshell.

So. As you already know, we'd gone all night without sleep when first reached Cloakwood, and the sun was already coming up. Kivan insisted we keep going as we were clearly more than capable of it. The woods were full of wild animals. Got attacked by a couple packs of worgs before the first hour of our trek was even up. Sleep spells saved the day, as usual. Two of the worgs in the second pack what attacked us managed to shake the spell off, though, and one of them bit Xan in the leg. That, at least, wasn't too major, as Branwen was able to fix it up pretty easy.

 _-The next sentence is crossed out with a single, shaky line, but rewritten exactly as it was the first time underneath, as if Eibhilin decided to leave it out but then changed her mind.-_

We did have to listen to him rattle off a long list of all the diseases that could be transmitted through animal bites, though. More than I ever wanted to know, Mr. Journal. That's the kind of stuff what can keep a girl up at night.

In the late morning, we came upon a hunting lodge. One of the hunters, this poncy nobleman with a bad attitude, came up to us and wanted us to help him out. Apparently, he and his buddies had been hunting for sport and mad some druids mad. The druids had attacked and killed one of his hunting party. He was certain that the druids would come back to attack the rest of them. Something about his story seemed a bit off, Mr. Journal, and I didn't like the way he told it. I mean, he said it like he thinks he's entitled to just march into the druids' woods and kill stuff for fun whenever he wants. Protip, that is not a thing you want to do in the general vicinity of a druid grove if you want to survive. Can't say I ever understood the appeal in hunting for sport, neither. I mean, it seems to me that someone who would go out and kill a bunch of animals just for funsies would have to be not quite right in the head, and a little too violent a person for my tastes. I mean, killing wild animals seems to be more of a self-defense thing to do. Or a protecting people from things that are terrorizing their villages thing. Or maybe a "have to eat to survive" kind of thing. But a "just for funsies" thing? No. No, not at all. There's something what's not right about that. Not right at all.

Sure enough, when the druids showed up, it turned out the hunter's story was complete bunk. They told me the hunter had been trying to trick us, and that he'd killed one of the druids in cold blood, and that was why they'd gone after his men. Now, I really don't like that whole "eye for an eye" kind of mindset, and I really wish there had been a peaceful solution, but things didn't turn out that way. I said I couldn't really approve of the druids killing one of the hunters, but that the hunters were still the ones who'd started all the murdering and stuff, and they needed to answer for that. Maybe try to make amends, come to an agreement. But the hunters just got mad and attacked us instead for being "traitors." Poncy nobleman had a nasty sword and he knew how to use it. His two buddies were mean shots with a longbow and pretty much turned Branwen into a pincushion before the fight was over. She had to use up near half her healing spells on herself just to keep in the fight. With the druids on our side, though, we managed to make it through. Still leaves a damn bad taste in my mouth, though. They thanked us for our help, and warned us that deeper in the woods there was a dangerous militant splinter group of druids called Shadow Druids, and that we should watch our backs.

 _-After this point, Eibhilin's handwriting gets progressively shakier throughout the rest of the entry, and from the jerky, heavy quality of the lines, it's pretty clear she's applying far too much pressure to the page.-_

So, after that, we moved on, and got attacked by a bunch more stuff in the woods. Did I mention these woods are full of wild animals that run out at you and attack out of nowhere? I think I did. Seems right unusual behavior for animals, unless they're real hungry. Maybe the Shadow Druids have something to do with it? If they do I really, really do not like Shadow Druids. Oh, and the spiders, Kivan was right about the spiders, they're everywhere. And they're _huge_. So very huge. Damn it all. Rasaad got poisoned by one once, but luckily, we anticipated that kind of thing and had pretty much as many vials of antidote with us as we could carry, so that wasn't too big of a deal. Honestly, with the sheer numbers of spiders what have attacked us I'm surprised we've only had to deal with one poisoning incident today. We were also ambushed by a group of tasloi. I'd seen pictures of them in books, but never in real life. They're pretty weak little buggers, but they attack in huge groups, which makes dealing with them a pain. We pulled through though, and when we looted them, it turned out one of them had been wearing a magic cloak. I remember that dwarf in the Jovial Juggler in Beregost being upset about losing his cloak to some tasloi in Cloakwood. I remember being amused about it, because, I mean. Cloak. Cloakwood. Haha.

Anyways, maybe this is his cloak. Note to self, give this to the dwarf guy when we get back to Beregost. Well. Let's be realistic here. If we get back to Beregost. I mean, I don't want to sound like a negative nancy or anything, but so far, this place is turning out to be real dangerous. I'd have to be a fool if I didn't at least admit that there might be a teensy tiny chance that, badass though we may be, we won't make it back. Teeeensy tiny. At least, I hope it's teensy tiny. Gods, but I hope it's teensy tiny.

Um. Uh. Where was I? Oh yeah. Getting attacked by a bunch of stuff. So, we were attacked by a bunch of stuff. Wild animals and spiders and tasloi, oh my! I took to singing as we walked to keep everyone's morale up, what with all the stuff the woods were throwing at us. Nothing like a proper epic to get one roused for battle. For the most part, we managed all right for a while, but it didn't last.

Things really started going downhill when we were set upon by that one pack of wolves. It seemed like we had the upper hand, at first. It really did. Xan cast a Horror spell, and they all stopped charging at us and scattered in a panic. Unfortunately, the majority of them ended up running back toward us at one point, and, well, when they noticed how close we were … let's just say that it turns out scared wolves are way more vicious than regular ones. They got me but good, and Branwen had to use her last healing spell to fix me up after we'd taken care of them. But then, it turned out we hadn't gotten them all, and the last wolf burst through the bushes right at me, before Branwen had even finished casting her spell, and I saw it in his _eyes_ , Mr. Journal. That wolf was going in for the kill. I swear, in that moment I saw my whole life flashing before my eyes. Like, you think that's just a thing people say to be dramatic, but then you're in one of those situations and darned if it doesn't actually happen.

Xan … shielded me from the attack, Mr. Journal. He saved my life. And he paid for it. The wolf knocked him over to the ground and just started ripping into him. It was terrible. He managed to swipe at it with his Moonblade and get it off him, but by that time he was already hurt real bad An arrow from Imoen finished the wolf, but the damage had already been done. Branwen was out of spells, and I'd already used my abilities earlier in the day to help Rasaad after a spider attack. I had one extra healing potion left, but it wasn't nearly enough. Still, at least it managed to close up the worst of his wounds. After that, all we could do really was to bandage him up best we could. He was still in pretty bad shape, but after seeing he could still walk and wasn't bleeding no more, Kivan insisted that we keep moving on until nightfall as we still had more ground to cover. Said that if we were attacked by anything else, we could just protect Xan from further injury. None of us were very happy about it, but we ended up moving on.

Pretty soon we came to a river crossing, and we were approached by an elf what called himself Coran on the bridge. Wanted to know if we could help him track down some wyverns what posed a threat to the nearby city of Baldur's Gate. We had to politely decline, though, as we had much bigger things on our plates. Right as soon as we'd passed the bridge, we were attacked by another group of tasloi. I stayed near the back, bosshammer at the ready, as a last line of defense to make sure none of them got near Xan.

 _-Several sentences here are furiously scratched out. The only one that can still be read from underneath the scribbles is "Fat lot of good that did him, though."-_

I didn't have to worry though because Rasaad went all kung fu on their asses and it was the most badass thing ever.

About half an hour later we ran into some ettercaps and had to run away as fast as we could, as our group weren't in any shape to take them on . We had to keep running until we were sure we'd lost them. We set up camp right near a waterfall just before sunset. With the way Kivan's been acting, I'd wager he probably would have pushed us to keep going a couple hours after that if Xan hadn't collapsed right there. He wasn't doing well at all. A few of his wounds had opened back up, probably from all the running, and he's been unconscious since he collapsed.

Everyone else is asleep now, and I really cant blame them. I mean, we haven't stopped to rest for two days straight. I can't sleep, though. I've been looking after Xan until Branwen can prepare more healing spells. He's still out cold, and I'm really worried. I'm also really sleepy, but that's going to have to wait, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 57, Hour 18

I nodded off when I shouldn't have, Mr. Journal. So I guess it serves me right that I had another one of those nightmares last night. There was a lot of darkness and falling in it, and it was no fun. When I woke up, it was already past noon. Xan was up and walking around again, that was good. I admit, I sort of panicked when I woke up, I mean, I'd told myself I'd stay awake until Branwen healed him, and I didn't. I fell asleep. I'm glad nothing bad happened because of it, but I still feel kind of bad about it. At least he's okay.

Branwen was busy preparing another round of healing spells that afternoon, as the rest of us were still a bit injured from yesterday, and she'd used nearly all of her first batch dealing with Xan, as he'd been in a real bad way. Kivan was real withdrawn and stuff for about an hour or so before he went and apologized to everyone for focusing so hard on finding Tazok and Davaeorn and their lackeys that he just lost sight of stuff. Seems real upset things went the way he did, and I'm pretty sure he's been beating himself up over what happened to Xan. He thinks I should go back to leading the party again. Says he doesn't trust himself to lead no more, least not when he's got such a personal stake in our objective.

Anyways, while we were still camped, some guy came up to us and asked us to help him find his brother. Apparently, the poor sod had run into the forest to kill all the spiders and become a hero of sorts, and hadn't come back. We said we'd try to keep an eye out. It's already evening, but we're just now setting out. We may be traveling in the dark again, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 57, Hour 20

I hate phase spiders I hate phase spiders I hate phase spiders

* * *

Day 57, Hour 21

I hate sword spiders even more

* * *

Day 57, Hour 22

spiders spiders spiders spiders spiders spiders spiders spiders spiders

* * *

Day 57, Hour 23

That is _it_. We are clearly not prepared for this. These last few hours, we've been caught in spider webs, attacked by a million billion gazillion different kinds of spiders, nearly killed on multiple occasions, and, on top of it all, we've nearly used up all our supplies, including that obscenely large amount of antidote we bought. We're going to rest for the night and then head back to Beregost in the morning. From there, maybe we'll gain a little more experience, go on a few short but less risky adventures, earn a little gold, get better supplies, and come back once we're ready. I don't like it one bit – Tazok may not be there when we make it to the bottom of this, and I don't know what's going to become of Khalid and Jaheira if they really have been taken captive, but I do know this – we're of no use to anyone dead. Even Kivan's grudgingly agreed to that point, as he's nearly been killed several times himself. I feel like a damn worthless coward backing out like this, but at this point, I think it may be our only option.

Good night, Mr. Journal. I sure hope things look better in the morning.

* * *

A/N: This chapter has left me completely emotionally exhausted. I make a point of trying to put myself in the same emotional mindset as Linn would be during each entry she writes for the sake of authenticity. Needless to say, certain of these entries were a bit upsetting to write. Oh also interesting story, Xan ran between Linn and the wolf on his own in-game. I had AI on and I was busy trying to get Linn to run away from the thing when it happened. Needless to say, I have been more careful with micromanaging my party since then. Xan nearly died and it was terrible. Just terrible. Um. Anyway. Tune in next time as our heroes bravely, uh, retreat. As always, please favorite and follow if you like what you see, and do not hesitate to leave a review, they are always appreciated. See you guys later, I need about an hour to get my mind off this so I don't get bad dreams about it when I go to sleep tonight.


	23. Chapter 23: We Are Bounty Hunters!

A/N: Happy Easter, everyone! This is ShoujoOnmyouji, coming at you with another update! I'm going to use the author note section here today to tell you a little something about how I write character interactions! Sometimes, they just come to me while I'm playing and write them in. But other times, not much is happening in game, I need to fill in some blanks, and I don't have any ideas ahead of time. Well, I roll an eight sided die! That way, I can avoid one character getting all the attention! I started doing this when I realized I was writing about Xan waaaayyyyy too much. I call it my "d8 of fate." five sides represent the other party members, one is Linn doing something by herself, one is a group interaction, and the last is Linn noticing/interacting with something interesting in her surroundings. I don't use it all the time, but it's still a helpful tool. And now, after that completely unsolicited tidbit, I give you...the chapter.

* * *

Day 58, Hour 13

We're on our way out of Cloakwood now. We had to tell that poor guy we couldn't find his brother and couldn't stay there any longer to look. I hope the poor kid's all right. This still doesn't feel any better, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 58, Hour 22

Still in Cloakwood. Almost out, though. Resting here.

Gods, I hope we're making the right decision.

* * *

Day 59, Hour 13

Another new day. We should make it out of Cloakwood by nightfall. I'm sorry I've been so brief, Mr. Journal. I just haven't felt much like writing these past couple days. Only makes me worry even more than I already am.

* * *

Day 59, Hour 23

We've finally made it to the Friendly Arm Inn. We got attacked by a bunch of ettercaps on our way out of Cloakwood, so we're all pretty tired and beat up. We're going to rest here tonight, then decide what to do in the morning. We're definitely going down to Beregost to restock, but we need to figure out if we think we can have another go at Cloakwood with a refreshed stock of supplies, or if we need to get a little stronger first, maybe earn the money to get better weapons and stuff.

Oh. Also. Got some weird swords we found that even I can't identify. And that's right strange, as I can usually tell what stuff is from things I've heard or read. We got one off the bandits, and the other we found just lying around in Cloakwood two days ago. Sorry I didn't write about that, Mr. Journal. I really was in a bad mood so I didn't get around to writing about a lot of things. Like the sword, or how pretty the coastline was, and how much I was enjoying it before we got attacked by all those spiders. Or the nasty web traps what came out of the tree and stuck us fast so we couldn't move. Or how badass Rasaad was when he saved our asses during a fight with some ettercaps. Those were all things that happened that I never mentioned back then.

Anyways, long story short, Xan's going to be preparing some Identify spells so we can find out what the swords are. Also, I really need some sleep. Good night, Mr. Journal!

* * *

Day 60, Hour 16

We would've got moving already, but Branwen overslept something fierce. I imagine all them healing spells she cast back in the woods took their toll on her. We really did overwork her a lot, what with getting ourselves beat up by wolves and spiders at every turn and whatnot. We sold off some of the loot we didn't need to Bentley while she was still snoozing. We've all agreed to hold off on our decision until we get to Beregost and see how well we can re-equip ourselves.

As for the swords, they're pretty awesome. We're keeping one, and selling the other. We'll be setting off for Beregost shortly, but there's no way we'll make it there before nightfall.

* * *

Day 61, Hour 2

We're on the road to Beregost, Mr. Journal, with a long journey still ahead of us. There's no way we're going to make it there tonight, so we've stopped to set up camp. I've been up talking with Immy, bouncing some ideas off her for a song about those damn spiders and how much they suck. But now it's late, and I'm too tired to write any of them down. I'll see you in the morning, okay?

* * *

Day 61, Hour 11

Morning, Mr. Journal. Nothing much has changed. Still on the way to Beregost. Everyone's being real quiet and serious. I think I may be starting to catch a little of this sullen mood what's been going around this group for the last few days. That's it! Desperate times call for desperate measures! It's time to break out all the best songs and tales I know! They'll thank me for it later.

* * *

Day 61, Hour 12

They didn't.

* * *

Day 61, Hour 15

We've spent the last few hours restocking in Beregost. Currently, we're at Feldepost's Inn. We've all decided that we may not be ready for Cloakwood yet. We can't afford to take too much time off, though. We just have to find a way to earn some more coin so we can buy ourselves some better protective gear. Immy's suggested we go down to Nashkel and see if we can get work as bounty hunters with old Oublek there – hunt down some villainous criminals and whatnot to get the extra coin we need. No one else has a better idea, so we're setting off for Nashkel first thing tomorrow morning. Hopefully, this won't take us too long. But it's better than going into that sodding forest again and getting ourselves killed.

* * *

Day 61, Hour 18

Last night we went down to the spidery woods  
The spidery, spidery woods, oh no!

The woods, they were full of spiders  
And that was not good, oh no!

They skitter and bite  
They know how to fight.  
And some are big as a horse  
They're ahead! They're behind!  
And soon we did find  
'Twas near hopeless to stay our course

Oh, please don't go down to the spidery woods  
The spidery, spidery woods, oh no!

You can't run, you can't hide  
And they will not abide  
Your tromping around where they've stood  
You'll find nothing but strife!  
If you value your life  
Stay away from the spidery woods!

The spidery, spidery woods, oh no!

* * *

Day 62, Hour 8

We're just about to leave for Nashkel, Mr. Journal. I'm still not too happy about this. Really hope it's the right choice, you know? It's just. Time's not on our side, and all, so this detour just seems a bit … off. Can't be helped, I guess.

Oh, oh! Yesterday after dinner Branwen helped me out a bit to hone my BOSSHAMMER skills. I am now at least thirty five percent more BOSS. She showed me how to use my hammer's weight to put more force behind the attack. The first few times I tried it, I nearly sent myself flying by accident, but I think I've got the hang of it now. Other than that, the rest of the night was pretty uneventful. Didn't have any more of those nightmares or anything, thank the gods.

* * *

Day 62, Hour 20

We made it to Nashkel early this evening. Went straight to Oublek to ask him about bounties, and you won't believe this, Mr. Journal. You remember that one man we were after almost a month ago? You know, the one we had to give up on because we had to go to Beregost to interrogate Tranzig? Gods, but that went poorly, didn't it?

Anyway, it turns out this sod is still at large – no one's managed to catch him yet! So, we're going after him a second time. Hells, maybe this time we'll even _find_ him. Xan is just about as excited about this as he was the first time we went after this Brage fellow. That is to say, not at all. At least for once he's not saying that we shouldn't do it, just that he's not happy about it. I think even he can agree someone's got to stop the man. Branwen and Immy though, they're raring to go. They're both real excited at the thought of bringing this guy to justice, and the enthusiasm's contagious. We're at the Nashkel Inn right now, waiting for our food to come out. Yay, dinnertime! We're going to set off first thing tomorrow. This time, Brage won't escape justice!

* * *

Day 63, Hour 5

We're all up bright and early this morning, and raring to go, at that! Even Swiftwing is all worked up, and he usually spends all his time being a lazy arse in my pack. Course, him being all antsy means him stealing half my breakfast, but it can't be helped, I guess. Soon as everyone's done eating, we're heading out to find Brage. Since we mostly looked east and south of Nashkel last time and didn't find him, we've all agreed that we're checking west of Nashkel this time. Wish us luck, Mr. Journal!

* * *

A/N: And that's where we'll stop for the night! Tune in next time as our heroes BE BOUNTY HUNTERS and HUNT BOUNTIES! As always, please review if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, and please follow and fav if you like what you see! Toodles!


	24. Chapter 24: The Rage of Brage

A/N: Ey, what's up? ShoujoOnmyouji here, coming at y'all with another chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Day 63, Hour 21

I think we're near the coast, Mr. Journal. We've been traveling for a while. This morning, things started out real slow, and we spent a couple of hours walking across some flat boring plains until we got to some cliffs. We walked around a bit, but we could only find one path up the cliffside. The path led to – get this – an entire village of xvarts! We just wanted to peacefully pass through, but nooooo. Little blue freaks just had to swarm us and try making us dead. I may have let my guard down. Just a little. A teensy bit, really.

...Okay, so actually, I nearly got my arse killed, but that sounds a lot less badass. I've really got to be more careful when I BOSSHAMMER, Mr. Journal. Seems like I'm leaving too many openings in my defense. I should ask Branwen for some more pointers later.

About halfway through the fight, their leader came out of one of the huts and called us monsters for killing them when they'd "done nothing" to us. Sure, if by "nothing", you mean "tried to kill us without any provocation." I don't like hurting people, Mr. Journal. Not even mean little blue people. And even if over the last couple of months I've gotten a lot more used to fighting than I'm comfortable with, that much hasn't changed. But when the mean little blue people are trying to run you through with swords, isn't much else you can do, is there? Anyways, he got mad at us and called up a cave bear to attack us saying it was the village's protector, but it attacked him instead. Some protector.

Of course, once all the xvarts were either dead or scattered, the bear turned on us. Honestly, it was a lot easier to fight than the xvarts had been. Probably because it's impossible to be surrounded by one bear. I mean, unless it eats you, then I guess you'd be inside the bear and that probably counts as surrounded. But none of us got eaten by bears today, Mr. Journal, so my point stands.

After that, we had a quick look around the area before moving on, and found a cave right behind the village, tucked behind some trees. We went in to investigate and came face to face with...another bear. What a surprise. A cave bear, in a cave. I sprung into action and cast Aganazzar's Scorcher at it. Then Kivan ran at it to attack – STRAIGHT THROUGH MY FLAMES. I swear, Mr. Journal, that elf is hardcore as frick frack. I don't think Branwen was half as amused, seeing as she had to waste near half of her healing spells on him thanks to that little stunt. There was some cool stuff in the cave though. I got me some new bracers, and they're real neat. Magical protection and whatnot.

We moved on after that. It wasn't even noon yet, so it didn't make much sense to be stopping. We came across a traveling salesman what sold us a healing potion. It looks a bit different from our other healing potions. A bit murky, and all. Xan doesn't much trust it, and I know he has an eye for those kind of things, but I also know he has a tendency to overreact, so I'm not quite sure what to think. Immy said it'll probably do its job just fine, though. Then Xan told her if she wanted to test that theory she could be his guest, but he wasn't going anywhere near the thing.

We stopped for lunch soon after that, then kept moving forward until it was dark. Not much else happened that afternoon, aside from a couple wolf attacks. So now, we're setting up camp near a river. The sound of it is real relaxing. It's Branwen's turn to cook tonight, so I'm just sitting here writing until she's done. It smells meaty. I approve.

* * *

Day 64, Hour 5

Morning, Mr. Journal. The sun's just about to come up, and we're getting ready to leave. We're headed north from here, as Kivan says we'll just hit the coast if we keep going west. He's a ranger and all, so I figure he's probably got a better sense of direction than the rest of us. Hopefully, something comes of our search today.

* * *

Day 64, Hour 19

We found him, Mr. Journal. We found Captain Brage. But after finding out what had gone on, we couldn't just take him back to Oublek. Turns out some evil spirit thing had taken over his mind or something. Can't much punish someone for a crime they had no control over. That just doesn't seem right.

So, here's what happened. Around noon today, we ran into this ruined caravan, and everyone there was dead. Horribly killed. Turned my stomach, it did. The only survivor was this one real scared-looking lady, who begged us to stay away from Brage, that something had happened to him. We didn't have much of a choice though, because around then he came up to us from behind some of the wreckage and started getting right up in our faces all threatening-like. Then, he started spouting riddles at us of all things. I decided to play his little game, as I'm all right with words, and I managed to guess his riddle. Somehow, that brought him back to his senses. When he looked around and saw what he'd done, he just. Just. That look on his face...it was just too much to bear, Mr. Journal. That wasn't the face of a killer, and when he spoke, those weren't the words of a villain. So, instead of turning him in to the garrison, we brought him to the Church of Helm back in Nashkel to atone for his crimes. Seems to me like a spiritual illness is more in need of a spiritual cure than a physical punishment. The scared lady came with us. Turns out she's his cousin. Hope Oublek won't be too mad at us about this.

Brage is sure upset with us, that's for sure. I think he may have actually _wanted_ to be executed. Can't say I blame him. I mean, if I were him, I'd be having a hard time living with myself right about now, too. That's not going to solve anything, though. All that'd do is cause more death. Luckily the priest still paid us for our efforts, so it's not like we were totally out a job. Um, not that I'd ever ask money of a priest, Mr. Journal, that's just wrong, but he insisted we take it. I suppose it's a good thing, because we do need the money to outfit ourselves for Cloakwood. Right nice of him, too, as we weren't exactly expecting payment. We also got a strange sword from Brage. He says he doesn't need it anymore. We'll have to identify this before using it – it's got me a bit suspicious. After all, it could be cursed or something. Hells, it could even be what made him go nuts. I don't know. Gods, but I sound paranoid. Xan must be rubbing off on me.

We're in the temple right now. I sure hope Brage manages to atone for his actions and find peace with himself. I'm sure it will take a while, and all, but I hope he manages. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like, Mr. Journal. Anyway, we're probably going to stay in Nashkel for the rest of the day, as the trek back here was damn exhausting.

P.S. I can't take all the credit for how we handled this thing with Brage, though. Sure, I didn't want to turn him in after we found out what happened, but taking him to the temple? That was Rasaad's idea. He's so very wise, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 64, Hour 21

Evening, Mr. Journal. We just got back from shopping. We used the money we got at the temple to buy some supplies here, though we'll have to go to Beregost to get the rest. There aren't any halberds around here, and Kivan's broke fighting some wolves this morning. We're staying at the inn for the night, then going back up to Beregost to look for a halberd. Not much else we can do down here right now, anyway. We checked with Oublek this evening, and he says there's no more bounties out right now.

I gave the odd sword to Xan to identify once we'd settled down at the inn for the day. He says I was right to worry, as it really _was_ what caused Brage's rampage. It's a cursed berserking sword – acts totally normal during sparring practice and that sort of thing, but the second it's used in a real battle, it'll make its user go crazy and kill everything in sight. I don't know what we're going to do with it, Mr. Journal. I mean, if we let it fall into the wrong hands, then this tragedy is just going to repeat itself. Maybe we can sell it to Bentley up at the Friendly Arm – after telling him exactly what it is, of course. It could be worth something, and I'd trust Bentley not to resell it to the wrong sort. If it's not worth anything, we can just give it to him. Better than keeping it with us. I mean, we're adventurers. We fight things, and while I don't like to think about it, sometimes people who fight things _die_. If we fell in battle, any old sod could loot us and take the damn thing.

Anyhow, I should probably be turning in for the night soon. See you in the morning, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 65, Hour 5

Good morning, Mr. Journal! It looks like I'm up before the others, so there's not much to do but write. I've already ordered some food – for Swiftwing, that is. This way, maybe when the others come down for breakfast, he won't go stealing mine.

Anyways, we'll be going to Beregost today, to look for a halberd and to see if there's any work to be had. If there's no work, then we'll just have to outfit ourselves the best we can with what we've earned so far, go to Cloakwood, and hope for the best. If we do go, I really hope this time is better, Mr. Journal. I don't want to have to go through our first Cloakwood attempt again. I don't think any of us could handle a repeat of that. Especially not Xan. I'm pretty sure he'd just keel over right there.

I wonder if Khalid and Jaheira are okay. Maybe, just maybe, they're not the ones what got captured by Tazok after all, and they're still looking around for the bandits, wondering why we never bothered to check in. Wouldn't that be a laugh?

...I hope everything works out.

* * *

A/N: And we'll stop there for now! Tune in next time as our heroes head back up to Beregost! As always, please leave a review if you've got any questions, comments, or concerns, and if you like what you see, remember to follow and favorite! Toodles!


	25. Chapter 25: That's Not Punny

A/N: Hello there. Trying to decide whether to go out and get a midnight snack. Figured I should probably finish editing this and post it first, though. Let's do this.

* * *

Day 64, Hour 20

We left pretty early this morning, Mr. Journal. After everyone woke up, that is. Waiting for that wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, though, because Xan came out into the main room before the others and we talked for a while. Mostly about magical theory, but also about other things. I am learning more, Mr. Journal. Xan is a good teacher.

Anyway, like I said, we left Nashkel early. While we were on the road, Immy found a perfectly good set of armor just lying about in the woods exposed to the elements. Wonder it didn't rust. Turns out it fits Kivan real well, so we gave it to him. It's a lot better than the armor what he had before. We were also able to get a halberd for him once we got to Beregost.

While we were walking around town this morning, we heard from the town crier that the head priest at the Song of the Morning Temple is offering a five thousand gold reward to anyone who can take care of some mad cleric what's called Bassilus. FIVE THOUSAND GOLD, Mr. Journal! With that kind of money, we could get the very best gear and go after Davaeorn in Cloakwood with confidence!

For most of the day so far, we've been asking around about this Bassilus character in town, looking for leads. Apparently he's some evil priest what's been murdering people left and right and turning them into zombies. Probably has enough by now for his own undead army. He's been hiding out in the wilds near here, and it's got the townspeople all worked up.

We've decided to go after him. Sure, it sounds real dangerous, but with a reward like that, we can't afford to pass this up. This could be our chance to get back on track. Xan protested of course, said he'd sooner die than become a zombie. Then Immy pointed out he'd kind of have to die first for that to happen anyways, and then he just got quiet. He's been shooting grumpy glares over at Immy for the past half hour now. He's in a real bad mood. Even for Xan. Word to the wise, Mr. Journal, it is best to ignore him when he gets like this. That's why I'm taking this time to write. Also, eat. It's dinnertime. We're staying at the Jovial Juggler for tonight, and moving on first thing tomorrow morning.

P.S. We tried to give that dwarf guy back his cloak, but he didn't want it. Said he'd become pretty famous around here for his story about losing the thing, and he didn't want to let go of that. So, he told us to keep it and bugger off.

P.P.S. Officer Vai came over to talk to us about an hour ago, and said she was leaving Beregost. Apparently, she's got orders what tell her she's got to go back to Baldur's Gate and report.

* * *

Day 65, Hour 8

Good morning, Mr. Journal! We're just about to head out once we're done with breakfast! I've been down here for the past couple of hours drinking tea and working at studying my magic. Trying to figure out how some of the theory Xan was teaching me yesterday fits in with the spells what I already know. I've...been making less progress than I'd care to admit. I'll have to ask him about it sometime later. I would right now, but I'm eating with one hand and writing with the other. Besides, he's had his nose stuck in his spellbook since he came down here. I'd rather not disturb him.

Anyways, here's hoping for the best, Mr. Journal. Wish us luck!

* * *

Day 66, Hour 0

We've been traveling east all day, Mr. Journal. Still no sign of Bassilus. Actually, no sign of anything, aside from a group of xvarts what attacked us about six hours back. Kivan and Branwen have been talking more about warrior stuff a bunch on the way. From what little of it I understand, I think they're comparing weapon techniques. Still, it seems to have put them both in a good mood, and it's always nice when Kivan isn't all scowly. I've mostly been enjoying the scenery and running ideas by Immy about this new ballad I'm trying to think up about how we stormed the bandit camp like a bunch of total badasses. Hopefully, it'll turn out better than the spidery woods one. Anyways, Mr. Journal, it's late now, and I'm tired, so I'll see you in the morning.

* * *

 _-Near all the text on the following page has been scratched out. From what little is still legible, it appears to be a list of words that rhyme with "camp."-_

* * *

Day 66, Hour 11

Hello again, Mr. Journal! Kivan made breakfast this morning. And by "made," I mean he gathered a bunch of nuts and berries while we were asleep. I get that he knows all sorts of survival stuff, but I mean, we've got rations, you know. Oh, well. It's actually not half bad. They taste all right. Not very filling, though. Soon as we're done eating, we're heading out again.

P.S. It turns out Xan is allergic to nuts. He's off about ten feet from the rest of us, grumbling to himself about how hungry he is. Refuses to eat the berries, too, because they might have touched the nuts. Seems a little excessive, but then again, I don't have any allergies, so I've got no idea how the things work. I don't know why he'd just not eat at all. I mean, like I just said, we've got rations. It really makes no sense, unless he's just trying to be over-dramatic about the whole thing, which, honestly, I wouldn't put past him. This is Xan we're talking about, after all.

* * *

Day 66, Hour 23

The gods must have been feeling punny today, Mr. Journal, because we went off this morning to find Bassilus, and we found basilisks instead. Lots and LOTS of basilisks. But of course, I should tell you about the day from the beginning, else the story won't make no sense. Stories aren't meant to be told out of order, after all.

So, where did I leave off last? Oh yeah. Xan was being melodramatic about nuts. I finally got fed up and threw a piece of bread at him. That shut him up. Also kept him from skipping a meal. He has a bruise on his arm from it, though. It wasn't even hard bread, Mr. Journal! He really is kind of a pushover, isn't he?

Soon after we set off, we were ambushed by a group of tasloi. Things weren't looking real good, but suddenly a ghoul came out of nowhere and ripped them apart! We got all ready to fight and stuff, but the ghoul told us not to attack, and that he was our friend. Then he started following us around and helping us out with fights. He smelled pretty bad, and he was kind of creepy, but he seemed friendly enough. Xan of course, was convinced that Korax – that was the ghoul's name – was just waiting for us to let our guard down so he could eat us.

Turns out he was right. After a few hours, Korax said he was real hungry and that he was sorry, but he had to eat us now. We didn't have to fight him, though, because around that time this big, hulking basilisk lumbered out from behind a rock and attacked him. Got him real good. Of course, then we had to fight the basilisk, and that was not fun.

As we went through the area, we saw more and more folks what had been turned to stone, and ran into a lot more basilisks. Somehow, we all managed to make it through the day without getting our arses stoned. To be honest, it was part skill and part luck. See, Branwen had a real good idea after we fought the first one. She raised a skeleton we found lying around and sent it out to scout ahead. Most basilisks showed themselves to attack the skeleton, and then we could join the fight while they were distracted. We had a few close calls, but we're all still made of skin and hair and other stuff what's not rock. I do feel sorry for whoever those bones used to belong to, though. Oh, also for that one statue what got his nose knocked off by one of Immy's stray arrows. I feel sorry for him, too. He's in for a nasty surprise if anyone ever unpetrifies him.

Sometime in the afternoon, we met this crazy mage what had been commanding the basilisks. He'd been having them "make art" by turning most travelers in the area to stone. When he found out we'd killed most of his "pets," he attacked us and said we'd become art, too. So we made some of our own brand of art, no petrification required. I call this one "my bootprint on a crazy mage's arse." It's a bit of a modernist piece.

He was carrying several scrolls on him what we managed to loot after. We also found some on the basilisks we fought earlier, though those were slightly worse for wear. Still, we got a lot of scrolls. I put them all in the scroll case. We're going to look through them once we get back to town. The crazy mage apparently also brought a change of clothes, as we found a neat robe in his pack what was enchanted to protect against petrification. Guess with what he was doing, he'd need that. Pretty small robe, though. Xan's the only one short enough to wear the thing without looking completely ridiculous. No, seriously, Mr. Journal, elves are short as all get out. Maybe not as short as, you know, halflings or dwarves, but they're pretty short, and Xan's short even for an elf. Seriously, the man's tiny. He's shorter than me, and that's saying something. I'm going to level with you, Mr. Journal, I forgot where I was going with this about two sentences ago. We'll just say the robe fit him and move on.

Later that evening, as we were setting up camp, we were approached by a warrior lady what challenged us to a duel. She said her name was Shar-Teel and that she wanted to fight the strongest man in our group, so Kivan gave her what for. Now she says she's willing to pledge her sword to our cause, but she really doesn't like large groups like ours, and we'd have to thin our numbers if we wanted her to join up. I told her we'd take a rain check on that and asked her to keep an eye out for Khalid and Jaheira for us, let her know our situation. She doesn't have to travel with us to help us out. I don't know if we'll ever cross paths again, but it never hurts to have more friends out there, you know? Especially if they're badass warrior ladies. Those make the best kind of friends.

We continue our search for Bassilus in the morning. Hopefully we actually find him this time, and not something that just sounds similar. ESPECIALLY not something that just sounds similar. I have had enough of basilisks, especially since our next encounter with them might end up a little more rocky. Pun absolutely intended.

* * *

A/N: And there we go! Tune in next time as our heroes continue their search for Bassilus! As always, please leave a review if you can, and if you like what you see, dont forget to follow/fav! Byeeee~!


	26. Chapter 26: Unfamiliar

A/N: And with this chapter, we reach an important landmark. Remember how I mentioned that this fanfic is actually a heavily edited version of the journal I've been keeping in-game? Well, about halfway through this chapter is the point where the journal got so big that it crashed the game and would not let me leave Beregost unless I deleted all entries. That's right, _I literally broke Baldur's Gate_ _by writing too much_. After that point, I had to painstakingly transfer the whole thing to a Word file and write all further entries in the file after each play session. This also means we're getting closer to the point where I stopped playing to edit what I had so far for publication here. You may be getting real-time updates pretty soon. But I'm sure you're not here to listen to me ramble on. You're here for the chapter. Here it is.

* * *

Day 67, Hour 8

Morning, Mr. Journal. We had a kind of fragmented sleep last night, as we got ambushed by gnolls halfway through. Luckily, it weren't the gnolls attacking what woke us up, but Branwen, who was on watch. Got woke up by the sound of her shouting that by Valkur's strapping buttocks she would see them all dead. And most of them _were_ dead before we'd managed to get out our weapons. Branwen is the most badass. Anyways, we're about to continue our search, so I'll write later.

* * *

Day 67, Hour 22

We started heading north this morning. Nothing much has happened. We've hit the Wood of Sharp Teeth. We should probably start heading back south now. We canvassed this area pretty thoroughly just recently. I get the feeling that if this Bassilus fellow had been hiding out up thisaways, we would have run into him by now.

There's nothing really exciting to report right now, Mr. Journal. I mean, I suppose we have gotten into a couple of fights. Immy and Xan are both hurt a little bit, but it's nothing serious. Scratches, really. Xan's convinced he's going to die from it, and Immy's been going on about how she hopes hers will leave behind "awesome battle scars." So, business as usual.

We did have to fight some spiders, though. Did I mention how much I hate spiders, Mr. Journal? Because I hate them lots.

* * *

Day 68, Hour 6

Morning again. We've decided that once we're done eating, we're headed back to Beregost to restock our supplies and see if we can't get some more info. Clearly, we've gone way off course. Bassilus was supposed to be hiding out fairly close to the town, and we're getting pretty far from it.

I made breakfast today, Mr. Journal. Swiftwing helped, though. So did Kivan. He went and foraged for some fruits, because rangers are good at that kind of thing, I guess. Then me and Swiftwing mashed them up and spread them on toast. Swiftwing helped with the toast – he can breathe fire, after all. It's a very small fire, and I doubt it would do much damage in battle, but for cooking, it works. It turned out pretty well. I mean, it was kind of ugly, but it tasted fine, and no one seems to be getting sick, so I think I did all right.

* * *

Day 69, Hour 6

Took us a whole day to get to Beregost, Mr. Journal! We're all exhausted, and the sun's coming up already. Well, Kivan's not exhausted, but he is alone in that. I swear, I'm starting to think that elf just doesn't get tired. Or maybe he's tired all the time and he's just used to it. That would explain why he's always so scowly. Sleep deprivation will do that. Or not-sleep deprivation, in this case. Anyways, we're going to check into the inn, sleep a bit, except for Kivan and Xan, who are going to not-sleep a bit, and then get supplies and information once we're rested. I'll write you in the evening. Right now, I can hear the beds at Feldepost's Inn calling, and it would be right rude of me not to answer.

* * *

Day 70, Hour 0

After we were all rested up – about early afternoon or so – we split into groups to go out and do what we needed to. Immy and Xan went off to restock on supplies, since they're both real good at haggling. Immy knows how to turn on the charm and her appraisal skills are top-notch, and Xan can be surprisingly persuasive when he wants to be, even without relying on his enchantment spells. Immy also has sticky fingers sometimes, though, so it's a good thing Xan was there to keep an eye on her. Me and Rasaad, we went and asked around town about Bassilus, as we were the ones folks'd probably be most willing to talk to. Rasaad always has this lovely aura of calm about him, makes people feel at ease. And me, well, folks around these parts are always glad to see a bard. You'd be surprised how much people will tell you in exchange for a story or two. That left Branwen and Kivan to stay behind at Feldepost's, drinking and milking the barkeep for information. Honestly, that was probably for the best, as they're the only ones around here what can hold their booze for more than a few rounds.

I was kind of hoping I'd get to talk more with Rasaad, since we were kind of alone together, but he was all quiet and focused when we weren't talking with the townsfolk, and I just got nervous again. Only talked about stuff to do with the info we were looking for, even when I wanted to ask him more about himself. We got some good info, at least, but I wish I'd been able to, I don't know, just be more sociable and whatnot. It's usually not this much of a problem for me, you know?

When we all met back up, Kivan and Branwen were both totally smashed. It turns out Branwen is a pretty fun drunk. She's all loud and likes singing about epic battles. We kind of got distracted with those a bit before getting down to business. Now that is my kind of drunk. Kivan, on the other hand, is a real serious drunk. You know, the kind what seems totally coherent, and you wouldn't be able to tell he was drunk but for his near inability to stand.

Immy was pretty tipsy too. She and Xan had gotten back several hours before us, and by the looks of it, she'd had a few drinks and then gotten bored. When we walked in, she was braiding Xan's hair and he looked for all the world like he wanted to go jump off the nearest cliff, but had instead resigned himself to his fate.

Anyways, Mr. Journal, Kivan and Branwen didn't find out too much about Bassilus's whereabouts, just more about his undead hordes and some unrelated stuff about farms getting messed up by giant bugs or something. So, this is where me and Rasaad saved the day. We'd talked to a man earlier what had seen an unusually large number of undead from a distance atop the cliffs south of High Hedge. It's the best lead any of us have found, so we're going with it.

We just finished dinner and we'll be heading to bed soon. Xan's still trying to undo all the braids in his hair, and he's grumbling about it loud enough that the whole damn inn can hear him. Immy looks real pleased with herself. I don't know whether to be amused or to feel sorry for the poor guy. Not much time to think about it now, though, Mr. Journal – Branwen says she wants to "shing us the shong of her people," and I kind of want to listen.

* * *

Day 70, Hour 10

Morning, Mr. Journal. Everyone's just about finished with breakfast, so we're like to be leaving for the cliffs soon. I sure hope we find Bassilus out there. We were discussing this morning that if we can't find him and bring him to justice soon, we may just have to give up, as much more delay before going to Cloakwood could be dangerous. After all, Mr. Journal, there is a chance that those prisoners what Tazok took with him when he left the bandit camp were Khalid and Jaheira. We can't forget that. Wish us luck, Mr. Journal!

P.S. Branwen isn't hung over at all, even after all that mead she had last night. I wish I could hold my booze like that!

* * *

Day 71, Hour 11

We've finally made it to the cliffs! It's been a pretty tough trip, that's for sure. In the interest of saving time, we only stopped a couple hours to nap before moving on. Wasn't much, but at least it's enough to keep a girl from falling asleep where she stands. Xan's been complaining all morning about how two hours of rest isn't enough to get spells prepared, but I don't see what he's so worried about, seeing as none of us used any spells yesterday, so we've still got those. Maybe he's just tired. He sure looks tired. Then again, Xan always looks tired, even when he's not. He is like the opposite of Kivan, who never looks tired, but may still always be secretly tired.

We're stopping here real quick to get a meal in us, but we're on a tight schedule, so I expect we'll be moving again soon.

* * *

Day 71, Hour 17

Swiftwing is gone. Killed by hobgoblins. I. I can't do this, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 71, Hour 19

I suppose you have the right to know how the day went, Mr. Journal. After all, anything I don't write down, I'm like to forget, and that's not at all good. I promised myself I'd keep a record of everything what happens on this journey, after all. Even the painful things. That way, one day when this mess is all over and taken care of, I can look back on all this and maybe laugh. Maybe learn a little.

So, when we finished eating this morning, we set off. Xan wasn't looking too good. Real tired. Asked him if he was okay, but he wouldn't give me a straight answer, just that he was never okay. He really is an odd bird, Mr. Journal. And speaking of odd birds, soon after we started moving again, we ran into some crazy guy what wouldn't stop blathering on about some sort of possessed talking chicken. He was clearly not all there. We tried to get more information from him, but he seemed to be too terrified of the chicken to get his thoughts in order. And before you get your hopes up, Mr. Journal, no we have not seen any sign of this talking chicken the man was so scared of. Immy suggested we go look for it, but Kivan would have none of it, as we were on a tight schedule. As much as I would have liked to meet a talking chicken, I was like to agree with him on this one.

Right past the guy, we past this sign what said "Watch for Wolves". I remember because Immy loudly announced it was about an hour too late for that once she saw it. Oh, right. I forgot to mention. We got attacked by some dread wolves earlier in the morning. One of them bit Immy, but it was nothing Branwen's spells couldn't handle. It was a pretty easy fight, and like a lot of fights we've had before, so I guess it kind of slipped my mind.

Anyway, it turned out that it is _never_ too late to watch for wolves, because soon after we passed the sign we got attacked by more wolves. At least they were considerably less dread than the last ones. Around noon or so, we got to this little copse of trees and we were attacked by a bunch of skeletons. I thought for sure that meant Bassilus was just ahead and we had to be ready for a big fight and all, but it turned out it was just skeletons and nothing more. It was almost disappointing, Mr. Journal. I admit, I'm a bit disturbed that I could be disappointed about not having to fight. It's just, I've been right scared over this Bassilus guy, he seems real dangerous, and I really, really want this over with. Now more than ever. It's all too much.

It started raining around that point. Normally this would be where Xan'd start complaining about how we were all going to catch colds and die, but he was just real quiet. Was starting to look a bit like an undead abomination himself, Mr. Journal. He really doesn't do well without the right amount of rest, does he? Not that I can blame him. I don't exactly feel very alive right now, either. Still, I asked again if he was okay, because I really didn't want to go on if it'd push him too hard. I don't want a repeat of the Cloakwood incident. After I pestered him a bit, he admitted he was tired, just about ready to drop, in fact. Despite that, he insisted we keep going on, as the increase in undead probably meant we were getting closer to our goal, and if we rested now, Bassilus might catch us off guard and "murder us all in our dreamless sleep." Though, I suppose in his case, it would be his not-sleep. Xan sure has a way of wording things, Mr. Journal. I'll give him that much.

Everyone else was doing all right, at least. We walked for a while more before anything else happened. Not much to say there. Most of us were pretty quiet the whole walk, excepting Branwen and Kivan, who were discussing strategy and whatnot. We'd started heading towards the base of the cliffs by the time the rain let up. That was when it happened.

We were ambushed, Mr. Journal. There were a couple of hobgoblins, and a _lot_ of ghouls. The battle started out pretty well, I'd say, but then some of the ghouls managed to separate Xan from the rest of us and paralyze him. I broke off from my part of the fight and ran at the ghouls, blasting them with some magic missiles. Immy noticed when I ran past and she came to help too. We managed to beat them before they could hurt Xan too bad. The rest of them went down easy. It was the aftermath what was the bad part.

As soon as the paralysis wore off, Xan collapsed right there. Was pretty clear he wouldn't be able to go any farther until he'd had some rest. So, we stopped to set up camp, a little ways from the site of the battle, of course, as no one wants to camp in the middle of a bunch of rotting ghoul corpses. Rasaad helped Xan get up and walk over to where we were. That's when I noticed, Mr. Journal. Swiftwing was missing. I went back to where we'd fought the ghouls to look for him, and

and and and he was there with a hobgoblin arrow sticking out of him

just lying there

all lifeless and

I can't

I can't talk about this one, Mr. Journal. It's my fault, you know. If I hadn't run off during the fight, he wouldn't have been all alone. He wouldn't have -

 _-The rest of this paragraph has been scribbled out.-_

I'm never summoning another familiar again.

* * *

A/N: And we're stopping here. I actually didn't know Swiftwing had died until loading up my save the next play session and realizing he wasn't there. At first I thought he'd just been left behind, sometimes he didn't get selected when I tried moving the party. But he wasn't anywhere on the whole map. I checked Linn's stats, and sure enough, she was showing the constitution loss associated with the death of a familiar. I had to rewrite the entry after that. It was a sad, sad day. The cute little animal friend is not supposed to die, dammit. But, I decided I shouldn't break my playthrough rules. Out of respect for Swiftwing's memory, I decided not to summon another familiar after that. Sorry for all the sad. Anyways. Tune in next time as our heroes maybe confront Bassilus? As always, please leave a review if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, or if you just want to smash keys, that's totally fine too. And, if you like what you see, don't forget to follow and fav! See ya!


	27. Chapter 27: Thicker Than Water

A/N: Blah blah this is the opening author's note and here's the next chapter.

* * *

Day 72, Hour 9

Morning, Mr. Journal. At the very least, Xan's fears didn't come to pass, and we weren't attacked while we rested or anything. In other news, I still feel like a steaming pile of gibberling dung. I am. The absolute worst. Can't even protect my own damn familiar.

Anyways, breakfast is just about ready, so I should probably join the others. I've still got to eat, even if I don't feel like it right now. We're leaving right after we're done, so I guess I'll talk to you tonight, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 73, Hour 2

Sorry about the delay, Mr. Journal, but we had to rush back to the temple, and now it's the wee hours. Long story short, we found Bassilus and we beat him, but his undead buddies killed Xan and Rasaad, and it was all real bad, but they're okay now since we got to the temple on time. I am exhausted in all possible ways, Mr. Journal, so I'll tell you more about what happened after I've had sleep.

* * *

Day 73, Hour 12

Good morning, Mr. Journal. Well, actually, it's noon, but "good noon" sounds silly, and it's not afternoon yet so I can't very well add the "after" to it. Anyway, I promised you I'd write about what you missed, so here goes. I last left off yesterday, right before breakfast, when I was moping around and feeling right awful about Swiftwing's death. You won't believe this one, Mr. Journal – Xan, of all people, was the one what managed to cheer me up. Shocking, I know.

It was right after breakfast – Immy and Kivan were off scouting the area and Branwen and Rasaad were taking down the tents. I'd just finished putting out the campfire and and sat down on a log to catch my breath when Xan loudly announced to the rest of us that he was amazed we'd managed to live through the night. Branwen and Rasaad just ignored him, I mean, he was just being typical Xan, there wasn't much odd about that, but me? Well, I was in a real foul mood that morning, Mr. Journal. Real foul. So, I glared daggers at him and said that not all of us survived. He looked real fed up and just said that's why he'd told me not to let Swiftwing fight with us. That's about when I exploded. I said a lot of things, Mr. Journal, and some of them, I'm not too proud of. I told him, you know, that I knew that, I knew it was my fault, and he didn't need to go rubbing in salt like that. I may have called him a few not so nice things. Maybe, more than a few. I don't quite remember. I remember I was crying a lot, though.

Well, his face changed then, Mr. Journal. He got real quiet, walked over to me, and sat down right next to me without a word. That look he got on his face for a moment shocked me enough to shut me up. Not enough to stop the crying, though. I might've been worried he was mad at me. I sure would have been mad at me. But, I don't know, after that, he just started talking in this quiet voice. Wasn't even looking at me, really, just staring off and talking. Told me about how he'd used to have a familiar too, back when he was real young and still studying at the Academy in Evereska, and how he'd been careless. He didn't keep his familiar where it was safe, and one day there was a magic accident. His familiar was caught in it, Mr. Journal. He said he hasn't summoned another since, and that's – that's why he told me what he did. Not to let Swiftwing fight. He didn't want to see me make the same mistake. Then, I looked straight at him, and I told him, "Xan, it's my fault." I told him, it's my fault Swiftwing died. I should've been more careful. Should have been covering him in battle.

That's when Xan interrupted me, told me that while I should have been more careful, he was partially to blame, too. That if he hadn't gotten himself surrounded by ghouls, I wouldn't have had to leave Swiftwing to go bail him out. But that's not Xan's fault, Mr. Journal, and I told him so. He had no control over who the ghouls attacked, and besides, I'm still the one what made the decision.

Soon after that, Branwen told us to get moving, as everyone else was ready to go, but, I felt a little better by then, Mr. Journal. I realized something. Sometimes in a fight, you've got to make snap decisions. And, I made one that day. I couldn't have known that Swiftwing would get shot soon as my back was turned. Hells, I don't even know if I could've saved him if I'd stayed. But the one thing I did know at the time was that Xan was in trouble, and not the kind what he could get out of on his own. As much as what happened hurts, I think I made the right choice now. Like, I still feel bad, but I can live with that. I. I think.

I thanked Xan for helping me clear my head, and he nodded, got up, and then said, oh what was it again? "Onward, to futility?" I'm pretty sure that was it.

So anyways, soon after we got going, Immy saw something moving in the woods and she ran off after it thinking it might have been the talking chicken the crazy guy from before had been on about. So, we ran after her and right into a hobgoblin attack. They did the whole "your money or your life" thing, which honestly is getting really old. You'd think bandits and hobgoblins and hobgoblin bandits would have thought up some better lines by now, but I suppose none of them has any creativity. So, we kicked their butts and took their stuff, including a boss new BOSSHAMMER what went to Branwen. That's what they get for firing their nasty arrows at us. And, you know what, Mr. Journal? That thing Immy saw wasn't even a chicken, it was a squirrel, so it weren't even for nothing!

So, we endured a few more attacks, nothing really worth mentioning, until we came to this stone circle, and there was this man there, all surrounded by undead. It was him. Bassilus.

He seemed to think the undead were his family, and he mistook me for his mother. I tried to use the mistake of identity to convince him to come home and stop killing people, but as soon as I mentioned he was surrounded by skeletons, zombies, and the like, he was convinced I had some problem with my eyes what needed to be cured. And by cured, I mean he wanted to turn us into zombies.

As soon as he attacked all the undead swarmed us at once. It was chaos. It all went by so fast. Xan fell right at the start. One of the skeletons had a bow, and their arrow just went straight through him. He was dead before he could even cry out, Mr. Journal. I know. I ran over to him, and he was just. Gone. I didn't know someone could die from a single arrow if it hit the right place. That's real scary.

They got Rasaad soon after, when the undead swarmed us and we all got separated. He must have taken down like ten zombies before they got him. It was a blur after that, Mr. Journal. I was distraught. All I could think about was Rasaad, and Xan, and destroying as many undead as I could before they could off anyone else. I sort of remember sneaking around behind all the chaos and throwing spells at the skeletons before they noticed me, too.

We all would have died if it weren't for Kivan and Branwen. They ploughed right through the skeletons and zombies and headed straight for Bassilus himself. Once they managed to get to him and take him out, all of the undead got a lot less organized in their attacks, and it was a lot easier to finish the job.

After it was over, we didn't wast any time getting back to Beregost and the Song of the Morning Temple. I can only thank the gods that both Xan and Rasaad were still...intact enough to be raised. I don't know what I'd do if I lost either of them for good, Mr. Journal. Once the two of them were raised, we collected our reward for defeating Bassilus before heading for the inn. Rasaad was having some trouble walking once he got raised, was still hurt pretty bad, and all. I tried to help, but it turns out I'm too short and he can't really lean on me for support without bending over all awkward-like, so Kivan helped him instead. Xan ended up collapsing in the middle of town though, as he hadn't fully recovered either, so I ended up helping him get the rest of the way to the inn. Weren't the same problem with that, at least, since he's about my height.

We're at Feldepost's right now. Rasaad and Xan are both resting upstairs, have been for nearly half a day now. They're still pretty out of it. The rest of us have been working out plans for our second attempt at taking on Cloakwood and going after Tazok and this Davaeorn sod what are supposed to be behind all this crap. Of course, there's only so far we can get with those plans without everyone here to discuss them. We'll probably start preparing in earnest tomorrow morning.

* * *

Day 73, Hour 19

Rasaad was actually feeling well enough to join us downstairs for dinner this evening. I'm glad he's recovering from this so fast, Mr. Journal. But, Xan still hasn't left his room yet. I'm starting to get a bit worried. Maybe I should go check on him, Mr. Journal. At the very least, to bring up some food or something. He hasn't eaten all day, after all.

* * *

Day 74, Hour 11

Morning, Mr. Journal. Everyone's up and doing well. We're heading out to stock up on supplies right after breakfast, and we'll discuss our strategy tonight back at the inn.

Also, I did go check on Xan last night. He was all right, just said he was still exhausted and all. I suppose it makes sense dying would get more tiring each time it happens. I can't imagine even doing it once. He also mentioned something about not exactly having a decent afterlife to look forward to, but when I tried asking him what he meant by that, he said he didn't want to talk about it. He did thank me for bringing dinner up, though. I let him be after that, as he clearly needed his rest.

Anyways! I'd better stop writing and finish up eating, so we can get going!

* * *

Day 74, Hour 20

All right, Mr. Journal, here's the plan.

First thing tomorrow morning, we're heading out. I'll be in the lead because I have apparently been voted least likely to go crazy and drive everyone to exhaustion like Kivan did on our first trip into the forest. At least, out of the folks who were actually in the running for team leader on this trip. Rasaad declined when I asked, and Xan and Immy both just aren't suited to the front lines. We'll be stopping by High Hedge on our way up to pick up some potions, and from there it'll be straight to Cloakwood.

I really hope things don't go terribly wrong like they did last time.

I also really hope our delay hasn't made anything real bad happen.

* * *

Day 75, Hour 11

We're just leaving High Hedge now. We weren't able to get everything we needed, but I think it's still enough. It has to be. Also, Immy insisted on buying this Wand of Sleep while we were there. Don't see what use it'll be, as Xan and me can already cast sleep spells, but I guess we'll see what happens. It might come in handy. It was storming something fierce when we left Beregost this morning, but the sky looks to have cleared up since then. Everyone's in pretty high spirits, so that's a good sign. Even Xan's going on about how we might actually survive this, so I guess that's a double good sign then. Wish us luck, Mr. Journal.

* * *

A/N: Oh, how far we've come! The Cloakwood Mines are just around the corner now! I'm excited! That's where the journal ends, and from then on I'll be writing all new stuff instead of just editing and adding a few new things. And then, a few chapters after that, I'll get to the point where my notes on the playthrough end and I actually stopped playing! I'll get to start again soon, eeeee! Tune in next time as our heroes finally take on Cloakwood, for real this time! As always, please leave a review if you've got questions, comments, or concerns, or if you just want to mash some buttons. And, if you like what you see, don't forget to follow/fav! Toodles!


	28. Chapter 28: Into the Woods

A/N: Sorry my updates have slowed a bit. It will likely be a couple of days before the next chapter, too - the power's going to be out for a full day at my apartment for routine electrical maintenance, and, as if that weren't enough, I just got assigned a project with a really tight deadline at my part-time job. So, I might not even have time to work on the next chapter until Wednesday. But hey, I did manage to finish a chapter tonight! Hooray!

* * *

Day 75, Hour 20

So far, most of the day has passed uneventful. Nothing major happened at all, except for a few ghouls attacking us right near High Hedge. We're camping out right off the main road at the Candlekeep Coastway, just like last time. Immy and me are going off to put flowers at Gorion's grave tonight, it being close to where we've set up camp, and all.

I still can't get used to this place, Mr. Journal. It's so close to home, and yet, I've never felt farther.

* * *

Day 75, Hour 23

Mr. Journal, I think I need to write something. To write a song. Yes. That should work...

It's deep in the night,  
The flickering flames  
The only light.

No one but I,  
The moon, the stars  
Under the sky.

Alone with my fears.  
Darker than most,  
Never-shed tears

Not so long ago,  
A past that was lost,  
A future unknown.

Where am I now?  
Where will I be?  
Where have I been?

Alone with my fears  
Until the light comes back  
Again

This. This isn't helping. I should go.

* * *

Day 76, Hour 6

We're having a quick breakfast before setting out again. We've got a pretty rough hike ahead of us if we want to reach Cloakwood. It would be easier going if we went round by way of the Friendly Arm Inn, but we'd lose a couple days going that route. We made it there this way before, so I don't foresee any major problems doing it like this.

I'm still a bit tired, Mr. Journal. I had a spot of trouble sleeping last night. After me and Immy got back from Gorion's grave, I just couldn't stop thinking about it, you know? So, I sat up round the campfire, long after most everyone had gone to bed, tried to get my mind off it by writing a bit. It didn't work. Ended up putting you away after a while, Mr. Journal.

Around that time, Rasaad's watch had just ended, and he was returning from the edge of camp. After he woke Branwen up for her shift, he came and sat down next to me. We sat in silence for a while before he asked me if I was having trouble sleeping. I tried not to make much of a big deal of it, I told him I was, a little. He just nodded, then admitted his mind was a bit too busy to think about sleep himself. Thinking about the past, and whatnot. I suppose that makes two of us. He said he was going to try to meditate a bit before going to sleep to clear his thoughts. I asked if I could join him. So, we ended up sitting together in silent meditation. Well, he was meditating. It turns out, Mr. Journal, that I am really bad at meditating. I get distracted far too easily. After a while, I gave up and went back to my bedroll, where I tossed and turned until I managed to get to sleep.

I should ask Rasaad sometime for some advice on how to not get distracted when you're trying to meditate. I'm sure he knows a lot about it. Anyways, that'll have to be all for now, Mr. Journal. We're going to be leaving soon.

* * *

Day 76, Hour 20

We've finally reached the outskirts of Cloakwood! Everyone's pretty tired, so we're turning in for the night. It was a pretty tough journey, it was. I mean, we didn't have to fight anything, but we did climb over a whole lot of rocks. My arms and legs are so sore right now. I imagine everyone else feels the same way. Hells, Xan can barely stand right now – when he was gathering firewood, his legs looked just about as wobbly as mine feel. Still, Mr. Journal, we all made it here in one piece, and that's what really matters, isn't it?

I'll see you in the morning.

* * *

Day 77, Hour 6

Morning, Mr. Journal! We're all up fair early today. Sun's barely even full up yet and we've already got breakfast in us. We're all but ready to head out. Here goes nothing.

* * *

Day 77, Hour 21

We ran into that Coran fellow again this morning. He saved our butts from a pack of wolves. Right nice of him, it was. After thanking him for his timely intervention, we swapped stories with him for a bit. He seemed very interested, listening to all our adventures. As for his adventures, he's still hunting wyverns in the area. He thinks he's very close to locating their nest. We wished him the best of luck before moving on.

Later in the afternoon we were ambushed by a group of ettercaps, but thanks to some quick thinking on Xan's part – by which I mean a very well-timed Horror spell – they didn't give us much trouble.

Aside from those two minor skirmishes, we've gotten pretty far into the woods without running into anything too bad, which is a bit of a surprise. I sure hope I don't jinx us or anything by saying that. We're fast approaching the really _spidery_ area where we got our arses handed to us last time, so I admit, I'm a little nervous. Right now, though, we're losing the light, so it would be best if we set up camp for now, Mr. Journal.

Gods, but I'm not looking forward to traversing the spidery, spidery woods.

* * *

Day 78, Hour 8

Good morning, Mr. Journal! You'll never guess who's having breakfast with us. It's the guy what's looking for his brother. Remember him? Well, he's still out here looking, and he found our camp this morning. We've agreed to keep an eye out as we go deeper, but honestly, if the man's still missing after this long, chances of him being alive are probably not all that good. We, uh, didn't tell him that second part though, Mr. Journal. That would just be plain tactless, not to mention right unkind.

Anyways, soon we'll be heading out into the spidery, spidery woods, Mr. Journal. If I don't write tonight, avenge my death. And burn that spidery woods song while you're at it, it's right awful, it is.

* * *

Day 78, Hour 23

Whew, I'm dead tired, Mr. Journal. But, I'm not dead, so that's something, at least. We've been tromping through these woods all day. This place is _huge_! Scenery's nice, though, especially those cliffs right by the sea where you can see out across the water for just about forever and a day. We passed by those a while back before heading north deeper into the forest.

So far, the spidery, spidery woods have been manageable. Definitely spidery, but manageable, especially thanks to all these antidotes we've got. Also, apparently, my weird healing powers now include slowing the spread of poison inside someone, so that's helped. I don't know when that happened, but I have to assume it was whenever my last nightmare was. Just found out about it today, though.

This hasn't been near as scary as I thought it'd be. I'm almost scared to say more about it because I'm still worried about jinxing it or something. We're all just about spent, so we've stopped for the night.

After we set up camp, I thought it might be a good idea to ask Xan about my healing powers. I don't know how I got them, just that they're magic of some sort and that they come after I have the nightmares, and honestly, it's been bothering me for a while. I figured a wizard like him might have heard of things like this happening to people before. Turns out he hasn't. He's suspicious of them though, worried they might be unnatural or have some hidden flip side to them. Says he would have warned me sooner, but as he doesn't know much about bardic magic, he'd just assumed they were a part of that until I told him tonight about the dreams I've been having. But now, he's real worried, he says. He's told me to be careful and not to rely on them too much. But, all they do is heal, Mr. Journal, and I don't see how that can be dangerous.

I asked Branwen for a second opinion, thinking that if they weren't wizard stuff, then maybe they were closer to priest stuff, but she doesn't know what they are, either. Both Xan and Branwen agreed that my strange dreams might mean something, though, and I should pay attention to them. I'll keep that in mind.

Maybe I should have told them about the nightmares sooner, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 79, Hour 7

So, we set up camp last night by the side of this real big river, and we slept real well. Refilled our waterskins, too. Today, we're going to follow the river further into the forest. I think I'm getting a lot more confident about this whole operation. But first, we're going to have breakfast. Spoiler alert, it's bread again, just like it's been for the past few days. I'm starting to get real tired of bread.

* * *

Day 79, Hour 10

I complained about the bread, Mr. Journal. I complained about the bread and Kivan got fed up and dragged me off to go forage with him. Said if I wanted more diverse rations, then I'd have to help him find them. In these last few hours, he's taught me a whole lot about which plants are good to eat and which ones aren't. You know, he acts real scary, Mr. Journal, but he's a lot nicer and more patient sometimes than he lets on. And he's been through so much, oh gods, Mr. Journal, it's terrible.

Oh, right. You don't know yet, do you?

Well, while we were foraging, we got to talking. At first it was just things like questions about plants and all, but somehow I ended up reminiscing about Candlekeep and now Kivan knows all about what happened to me and Immy around the time we left. He offered his condolences about Gorion's death. Sure, it was short and gruff, but I don't know, somehow he seemed a little softer than usual. Easier to talk to. And, well, after that, after finding out what happened to Gorion, he told me exactly why he's been seeking revenge against Tazok. Why he's so driven. It's absolutely terrible, Mr. Journal. That bastard Tazok killed his wife, right in front of him. I. I can't even begin to imagine how that would feel. Well, I mean, suppose I can – I imagine it's the same as I felt when – well, you know when, Mr. Journal. But, it's not a feeling I really _want_ to imagine, much less ever feel again. And I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I wish I could make it easier for him, Mr. Journal. But I can't. Not when I don't even know how to make it easier for me.

I didn't know what to say, Mr Journal. But, for once, it didn't make things frustrating or awkward. I think those few moments of silence we shared afterwards said everything what needed to be said. It almost feels like there's a mutual understanding between us.

Tazok is going down. And, if we ever find that tall man in the scary, spiky armor? He's going down, too.

* * *

A/N: Aaaand I think this is an excellent place to end for the night. Tune in next time as our heroes traverse deeper into the Cloakwood! As always, please leave a review if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, or if you just want to smash your keyboard for a bit. It's always appreciated. I love reviews! And, if you like what you see, don't forget to follow/fav! Good night, friendly friends~!


	29. Chapter 29: Some Very Shady Druids

A/N: Ey there. My assignment has been completed, and, as promised, I'm sending another chapter by you now! Enjoy!

* * *

Day 79, Hour 22

So much has happened today, Mr. Journal! Branwen's had to stay behind, and now there's an angry druid lady with us, and we're getting REALLY close to the Cloakwood mining operation what's being run by those Iron Throne guys. But, uh, you're probably really confused right now, as I've given precious little context. I guess I should probably start from the beginning, huh?

Okay. So, we were following the river and all, and I guess we were out of the _spidery_ part of the woods for the most part, as we mostly got attacked by things with fur. There was one group of spiders, but Xan scared the shit out of them with his magic and they ran off. But the bears! Sod it all, Mr. Journal, these bears have all got it out for Immy! Every damn bear what we've run into today has made a beeline straight for her! What did Immy ever do to those bears, huh!? Those fuzzy jerks had better leave my sister alone, else they're going to find themselves on the business end of my BOSSHAMMER!

Anyways, after a certain point we stopped running into animals and started running into people. Shadow Druids, to be precise. They're like regular druids, but _shadowy_. And by shadowy, I mean they kill things what mess with nature dead. You know, instead of just asking them nicely to stop or giving them really stern looks or something. The first one what we ran into said he had a "message" for the Iron Throne and asked if we were one of them. Of course, we told him that _hells_ no, we weren't with the Iron Throne. We wouldn't touch those assholes with a ten foot pole. We _would_ touch them with a BOSSHAMMER, though. Because, you know, we're totally hunting them and all, since they want us dead and may or may not be holding two of our friends captive. Oh, and also because they are villains who are hurting nature. We made very clear to the Shadow Druid that we were mad about the nature bit. You know, just in case, Mr. Journal. That's generally a good thing to do, when talking to Shadow Druids and all.

After that, he let us go. He was even nice enough to tell us that the Iron Throne guys had set up shop towards the northeast, reopened some old dwarven tunnels or something. The second guy was a lot more accusing and threatened us quite a bit, but when we told him we were only here to kick the Iron Throne's butt, he calmed down a little. Still didn't quite trust us though, and asked us to prove ourselves. He said he wouldn't let us pass unless we took care of this guy what was holding woodland creatures captive in a cave to the north. We agreed, of course, because only jerks hurt cute fuzzy animals. I mean, unless said cute fuzzy animals are trying to make you their dinner, then it's self defense. But this guy wasn't doing that, Mr. Journal. He was capturing them so he could train them and use them for some nefarious purpose. At least, that's what the Shadow Druid told us.

Well, Mr. Journal, it turns out they were not cute fuzzy animals. They were baby wyverns and they attacked us. The guy what captured them attacked us too, since we wouldn't buy his bogus story about being a woodcutter chopping subterranean trees. Subterranean trees aren't even a _thing_! You'd think if a man wanted to cover up his illicit wyvern smuggling activities, he'd come up with a better cover story. This one just makes him sound like he's been getting into the black lotus, if you know what I mean.

The wyverns did a real number on Immy, and Xan got himself stung by one of their nasty pointy little tails when he stepped in to cover her. Luckily, we were prepared! As the spidery, spidery woods had been considerably less spidery than we'd expected, our supplies were far from exhausted. We had everything we needed to heal them both right up. We still have _so_ many potions, Mr. Journal. It's so very reassuring.

Anyways, we moved on, and we kept meeting more and more of them Shadow Druids. They must have been herding us or something, because after a while, we ended up right at their leader's doorstep. He was not happy to see us, and warned us against angering the Shadow Archdruid. I assumed that he was the Shadow Archdruid, and just really liked talking in the third person. Just like the others, once he found out why we were here, he was considerably more welcoming. However, he said he was still concerned that as outsiders, we'd still end up doing more harm than good to the forest. He insisted that if we wanted to continue on, then we had to bring one of his circle along as an escort and leave one of our own here as "insurance". We didn't really have much choice, Mr. Journal. There were a _lot_ of Shadow Druids there, and it would have been unwise to make enemies of them, especially seeing as we technically _were_ trespassing on their turf.

So, we drew straws to see who'd have to stay behind, and Branwen drew the short one. She's going to wait for us here with the Shadow Druids and rejoin us once we're on our way back. The Shadow Archdruid has sent this angry lady named Faldorn with us. We've been traveling with her for the last six hours or so. I tried to lighten the mood with a little small talk, but she didn't want to talk to me, Mr. Journal. Also, she's taken the lead. I'd protest, but honestly, it makes sense. After all, she's the only one of us who actually has firsthand knowledge of where the Iron Throne's mine even _is_.

We've stopped to make camp by the river once again, Mr. Journal. According to Faldorn, we're to follow it until we reach a bridge, and from there, there's a path what will lead us to the mine. But for now, Mr. Journal, sleep is good.

* * *

Day 80, Hour 4

Faldorn's made us get up far too early. It's still the wee hours, Mr Journal! I can't even see the sun yet. Just a slightly lighter sky like you get a bit before sunrise is all. I don't have much time to write, I don't think she'd want me wasting time like this. I think I've got at least a few more minutes, though, as she's having a hell of a time trying to wake Immy up, and that may take a while. It's almost amusing to see how frustrated she is.

...I sure hope she at least gives us time to eat breakfast.

* * *

Day 80, Hour 22

She gave us time to eat breakfast. Lunch, however, was another story. It was straight back to walking along the riverbank all day. Apparently, we've still got some way to go. Cloakwood really is sodding huge, Mr. Journal. It was a real drudge of a walk, too. Not fun at all. Faldorn shushed me when I tried to start chatting with Immy. I don't know whether she was listening for something or if she's just a huge party pooper, but whichever it was, it sure put a damper on my spirits. We're setting up camp for the night now, because hey, even angry, scary Shadow Druid ladies get tired and have to sleep, thank the gods.

* * *

Day 81, Hour 6

Another early wake up call. I've got to admit, it's a little less jarring than it was the first time. I may get used to this yet, Mr. Journal. Faldorn seems to be opening up a little more, too. I saw her off talking with Kivan about half an hour ago, which is a step up from her usual "grr, don't talk to me unless you need something because I'm ANGRY, grr" thing. I mean, Kivan is kind of a grump too, I guess, so maybe they're just... _grumping_ together? Xan should join in, Mr. Journal. Then they'd be, like, the grump trio. Sad grump, mad grump, and broody grump. Three times the grump for the price of one!

Anyway, looks like Faldorn's assembling the troops for the morning, as it were, so I'd best get my arse moving.

* * *

Day 81, Hour 12

The mines are in sight now. There's a large walled camp up ahead, just across from this huge-arse moat. 'Twas all we could do to keep Faldorn from just storming the place right then and there. We've convinced her to wait until nightfall, when we're more likely to have the element of surprise. We've sent Immy and Kivan out to scout the perimeter and see if there's some other way what we could use to sneak in instead of, you know, straight up storming the front gate.

While we're waiting for them, I suppose I should let you know about the morning's events, huh, Mr. Journal? They're...well, not much, actually. We found the bridge and started heading on a path to the east. Couple hours later, we came across this big old cave, but Faldorn told us not to go inside as it was a wyvern nest, and it would be both very deadly and kind of a dick move on our part to go in and disturb it. I get the feeling, though, from the way that she worded it, that the implication was she would be a much more deadly threat to us than the wyverns if we went in and started messing with the natural order of things. Righteous wrath on nature's behalf, and all that good stuff.

We'd hardly stepped past the cave entrance when we were attacked by a group of guys dressed just like them Blacktalon mercenaries from back at the bandit camp. I knew then we were getting real close, Mr. Journal. Faldorn just said a few words and pointed at them soon as she saw them, and suddenly, lightning came down right out of the sky and smote them straight from the heavens! Remind me not to make Faldorn mad. Well, mad at me, that is. I mean, she's pretty much always mad.

Oh, also, we got ambushed by spiders on the way here. I swear, Mr. Journal, I have just about had it up to here with spiders. One of them bit Xan, and he was in a real bad way. He was practically turning green in the face, the poison was making him so damned sick. Luckily, though, it turns out Faldorn knows a lot more than just scary lightning spells and other stuff what calls down nature's righteous fury. She's actually a damn good healer. Color me surprised.

Oh! I think I see Immy and Kivan coming this way! I sure do hope they've got good news!

* * *

Day 81, Hour 20

Ah well, Mr. Journal, it looks like there's no sneaky secret way in, so the plan to storm the front gate at dark is unchanged. That's the intel we got from Kivan and Immy. I tried to find out more about what was out there from Kivan, but he would only talk about what was relevant to the plan. But fear not, Mr. Journal! I got all the juicy details from Immy! And so, I bring you...

IMMY AND KIVAN'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE!

So, Immy told me that soon after they started heading south, they were attacked by a group of tasloi. Easy pickings, they were, and nothing compared to what were to come. See, turns out, they ran into some bigwig guard for the Iron Throne patrolling the area, man by the name of Lakadaar. And, predictably, he attacked Immy and Kivan on sight. Soon, they were surrounded by Lakadaar and a bunch of trained warriors. But Kivan, he thinks real fast, so he grabbed Immy and they tumbled out of sight into some nearby bushes. Lakadaar's guys were real confused and had a hard time finding either of them in the underbrush. Immy and Kivan used this to their advantage and started shooting at the goons from the shadows, all while constantly changing their positions. And then, when they were all taken down, they leapt right out at Lakadaar himself! He only hesitated but a moment, but that was all they needed to find an opening.

And that, Mr, Journal, is how Immy and Kivan took down a whole patrol of Iron Throne guardsmen all by their lonesome! I only wish I'd gotten to see it. The way Immy tells it, it all sounds badass as hells. It doesn't change the fact though that they couldn't find another way in. Apparently, the mine is surrounded by a deep moat the whole way 'round, and the only way in is through the camp, past the front gate, and over a bridge or two.

It's nearly sundown now. I was talking with Immy about her and Kivan's exploits for a while, and, after she was done with the telling, we just sort of went into idle chatter. Was nice. Now she's doing a quick check of her stuff to make sure everything's in its place. Xan's been messing with his spellbook for the past several hours now – he's probably trying to make sure he's got the best spells for storming the camp. I'd go over and talk with him if I weren't so nervous about what's coming up myself.

Kivan's keeping watch and making sure we aren't noticed before we launch our attack. Rasaad's meditating, and I don't want to bother him. And Faldorn? Faldorn's chomping at the bit, and it's all we can do to hold her back until we're in position and get her to stick to the plan. The darkness will help to give us the element of surprise, after all, which is something we sorely need as we've got no idea how many guys they have in there.

* * *

Day 81, Hour 21

Mr. Journal.

It's go time.

Wish us luck.

* * *

A/N: So there you have it. I wanted to try having Faldorn in the party temporarily, and I thought this would be the best way to implement it. Of course, Branwen being the one left behind was completely random, but convenient, as it swapped one divine spellcaster for another. Basically, they drew straws in the story, and IRL, I rolled a d6 to see who would stay behind with the Shadow Druids (reroll if it came up Linn). Anyways, tune in next time as our heroes storm the encampment and descend into the Cloakwood Mines! As always, please leave a review if you can, and if you like what you see don'r forget to follow/fav! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


	30. Chapter 30: Point of No Return

A/N: Hey everyone, we're finally here at the big 30! Unlike the other chapters before it, this one is just one really long journal entry rather than multiples. I've read through the journal rough draft, and from the looks of it, I'll hit the point where I stopped writing around halfway through chapter 32. After that, it'll be 100% new writing, and not just heavily edited stuff from my in-game journal! For the next 10-20 in-game days after that point, the story will be written based on about 30 pages of highly detailed notes I took during my playthrough, after which I will be at the point where I stopped playing, and updates to the story will take place in real-time, as I play through the game. Anyways, here's the chapter - enjoy!

* * *

Day 82, Hour 2

Mr. Journal, shit's gone to shit real fast. Faldorn was killed up there, and we knew then there were no way to get her to a temple on time. To get any of us to a temple on time. Not with us several days straight into the woods, with near a week between us and the Friendly Arm. And that's not even counting the angry Shadow Druids that'd be on our arses if they saw us dragging Faldorn's corpse through the woods and assumed the worst. Or even if they just saw us return without her. There ain't no telling what they'd try to do to Branwen if that happened. Gods, Mr. Journal, if one of us dies down here, it's going to be for good. And I. I can't let that happen. I can't lose any more friends.

Sorry, I know this must be confusing out of context, and it might be just as confusing to me when I come back and read it later. As frazzled and wrong as everything may be right now, I should still start from the beginning.

Ahem. The Siege of the Cloakwood Mines – Part One. Hopefully, there will be a part two.

So, once night fell, we sprung into action, just as planned. Faldorn dropped an Entangle spell right at the front gate, immobilizing the two guards at the entrance. Then, Immy and me sniped them before they could raise the alarm. Once the spell had worn off, we sent Immy off to scout ahead inside the camp. Saw her disappear into the shadows right as she crossed the bridge at the gate. We hid in the bushes on the other side until she came back a few minutes later. She'd managed to make it back without being noticed, and told us she'd seen four folks guarding the way to the second bridge, and one of them looked to be a mage.

So we all went into the camp all quiet and cautious-like, trying to sneak past them. We aren't quite so good at the stealth thing as Immy is, though, so they noticed us near right away. One big guy, looked to be the leader of the group, said they were mercenaries and we'd crossed their employer for the last time. From the sound of what they said after, it seems like Davaeorn knew we were coming, and these guys were hired specifically to deal with us.

I tried to negotiate with him, said there's no need for bloodshed, but he would have none of it. Apparently, we've earned quite a reputation in the mercenary world for being badass, and these four had been looking forward to testing their strength against us. The man would not believe me when I told him reports of our badassery had been greatly exaggerated.

After that, they all rushed us, but we were faster. I cast Web right quick and Xan threw a Horror spell at them, which left three of them totally defenseless. But the big armor guy wasn't even affected, and he just kept charging straight at us. We'd barely even readied our weapons when Faldorn came shooting past us, rushing right at this armor guy with the loudest war cry I ever heard. But he. He just sidestepped her and then straight up bashed her head in. She just went down. None of us even had the chance to check to see if she was all right after that, because the armor guy charged us next. I got my bosshammer out, and Kivan and Rasaad came to join me. Together we managed to keep him busy in close combat while Immy and Xan picked off the others from a distance before the spells wore off. Somehow, working together, the three of us managed to take the armor guy down. But, by the time we got to Faldorn after the battle, she was dead. With her skull all crushed like that, it was pretty certain that we wouldn't be able to bring her back. But, there was something else, too.

I think it was standing there that we realized it. That, even if she had been in good enough shape for a Raise Dead spell to work, we'd never make it out of the forest in time to get her to a temple. And the same would be true for the rest of us. If any more of us died out here, it would be for good.

After talking it out, we decided the only way left for us to go was forward, even though the going was going to get real tough without a healer. After all, if we came back without Faldorn _and_ without stopping the guys in the Cloakwood Mines, who knows what the Shadow Druids would do to Branwen. At least, if we stopped the mining operation like we said we would, they'd be less likely to judge us as harshly.

Gods, I.

Give me a minute, Mr. Journal.

...All right.

We had Immy cross the second bridge first, all cloaked in shadow and whatnot. She sniped the one guard on duty there and moved back to the bridge. When she got back into sight, she motioned for us all to cross. There wasn't any wide encampment past the second bridge. Instead, there was just a narrow pathway flanked by wooden fences on either side. They must have been twice my height, at least. Made me feel real boxed in, that's for sure. Felt almost like I had to hold my breath until the path widened and dead-ended into this little circle. Once we got there, we saw this tiny little wooden building on stilts right in front of us, built against the back wall.

We climbed up the stairs and went inside, only to be attacked by two guards in close quarters. I swung my bosshammer at the one closest to me. Staggered him for a second, but he got his balance right back and managed to nick me pretty bad with a sword. Next thing I know, this flaming arrow comes whizzing past my shoulder and explodes right into the guy's head. I looked back, and there was Xan, smoke still rising out of his hands. Kivan managed to take the other guard out all by his lonesome, because Kivan is a badass.

So, once we were out of immediate danger, we took a look around. We were crowded into this small room, with a couple of crates stacked up across from the door. And, in one corner, there was a staircase leading down into darkness.

This was it.

You could practically _feel_ a sense of foreboding just rising out of that stairwell, Mr. Journal. Unease so thick in the air that I probably could have reached out, grabbed a chunk of it, and eaten it. I think everyone felt it. But, we knew the next step. We had to go down there.

I looked back at Xan, then, Mr. Journal. The man looked straight up sick. Hells, if he'd retched all over the floor right there, I wouldn't have been surprised. He looked over at us and just said that we were all going to die down there, in this quiet, hollow voice that seemed a far cry from his usual melodramatics.

Immy tried to laugh it off, said "Oh, you always say that, Xan."

And, I mean, he totally does, but this time, it was different. This time, he seemed a whole lot more serious about it. Looked to be right on the verge of panic, actually. I went over to him and told him that he didn't have to come down there with us. After all, considering how we first met him, I wouldn't at all be surprised if he were terrified of going into mines. I sure know I'd be, if I had been in his shoes and suffered through all that stuff with Mulahey and all.

Thing is, that only got him even more worked up. His voice must have raised at least an octave when he shouted that no, he wasn't staying behind while we all went down there to die.

"I could never do that," he said, "Not again."

I'm still trying to figure out what he meant by that, Mr. Journal.

Anyways, after that, he straight up pushed past me and marched right down the stairs ahead of all of us. I ran down there after him, but there was no need to worry. He was waiting for us right at the base of the stairs. I think, maybe, he just wanted to make a point. To show that he was for sure coming with us, you know?

When the rest of us came down the stairs, one of the steps gave way and Immy tripped and fell flat on her face. Someone must have heard it, because right after that, we heard footsteps. Next thing we knew, this guard came running down the passageway at us and cornered us right at the entrance. He was all like, "So you're the bastards who've been taking down our mining ops. Well, you've come to the wrong place, kiddos, I'm a mean son of a bitch and I'm gonna give you a world of hurt."

He went down with one hit from my bosshammer. Fell to the ground. Completely out cold.

Talk about having a bark worse than your bite.

So, after that, we began our trek deeper into the mines. Immy and Kivan, being the stealthiest of us, took point. I followed close behind Rasaad, who seemed to be the only one of us not showing any outward signs of nervousness. I don't know how he does it, Mr. Journal. And Xan, for all the show he made of being the first one down here, brought up the rear, all white as a sheet, looking around nervously and tugging at his sleeves.

The paths in the mine so far are real snaky, and it was hard to find our way around. Lucky for us, most of the guards around here were pretty weak and seemed to have something against patrolling in groups. They weren't all that smart either. One of them even mistook us for customers and tried to haggle over the price of iron with us. After that, he went off on some tangent and spent five minutes complaining to us about how he couldn't keep his, well, man-parts, up due to work-related stress, and his wife was getting on his arse about it. Seriously, who in the hells thinks that's a proper conversation topic to bring up with a bunch of complete strangers!? I do not want to hear about your wiener, Mr. Guard!

We also met a lot of miners. Seems like most of them were kidnapped and are being held here and forced to work against their will. One of them used to be a bard like me, but all the dust in the mines has messed his voice up so much that he'll never sing again. It's an outrage, Mr. Journal! We have to find a way to help these people!

That is, if we survive this.

A lot of the miners have helped us out, giving us information and whatnot to help us take down Davaeorn. Apparently, he hangs around the mines' fourth level and has a key to a plug here on the first level what could flood the entire mine if it were opened. Several of the miners have some sort of plan to do that and end all this for good, but they can't get their hands on the key. It might be a good way to throw a wrench in whatever evil plot is going on around here. Of course, we'd have to find a way to get the miners out safe, first. One miner we met says there's another miner what goes by the name of Rill in the lower levels who might have a way to evacuate everyone. We've also heard that there's an old dwarf being held prisoner down there who's the last surviving member of the dwarven clan what used to live here. If we could find him and free him, he might be able to help us out. We asked around about Khalid and Jaheira, but no one has seen anyone matching their descriptions brought into the mines. Maybe, just maybe, the prisoners Tazok brought here were two other people entirely, and Khalid and Jaheira are safe and wondering where the hells we've run off to. I sure hope so.

We've been wandering around the mines for hours now, and we've finally found a way down to the lower levels. However, we're all pretty exhausted, and even though most of the guards we've met were weak, they still managed to hurt us a little. As we don't have a healer with us anymore, it would be a fool move of us to continue on in this state. We've decided to stop for the night, go over what we've learned, figure out our plans, and continue on once we're fresh and ready to go. Of course, it would be dumb to camp right at the foot of the stairs, as that's just like asking to be discovered. So, we went and found a secluded tunnel what looked like no one had been down in a long time and went to the end of it, where it was all good and dark and hard to see from the main corridor. We can't start a campfire or anything for fear of getting noticed, but at least we might get a little rest before moving on.

Things have been moving along easily so far now that we're in the mines proper, but I can't shake the feeling that this is only the calm before the storm. We're down here, deep in enemy territory, with a week and a dozen angry druids between us and the nearest temple, and we've got no healer, to boot! Just the potions we have left, and my abilities, which are precious little. And, from what the miners said, I'm betting we'll be meeting with a lot more resistance deeper down. I just hope we can survive this. If anyone dies down here, it's for good. Anyway, Immy's got first watch, so I'm going to try to get some shut-eye before we have to move again, though, nervous as I am, I'm not sure if I can manage that.

* * *

A/N: And there we go. The siege of the Cloakwood Mines has begun. And yeah, after Faldorn got chunked, I figured that it would be a bad idea ICly to leave, and also, you know, it was a long way out of Cloakwood. Due to that, I modified the rules of my playthrough for the Cloakwood Mines portion. Basically, if anyone died in the mines, they were permadead, whether they were chunked or not. And considering the party had no healer, I halfway thought I was crazy when I decided this. But it sure did add to the suspense and drama of it all, and it led to my having to play more creatively to keep the party alive. I plan on implementing these modified rules any time the party is in a place where they would be unable to get a character to a temple within the next 2 to 3 days. Anyways, tune in next time as our heroes prepare to descend ever deeper into the mines! As always, please leave a review if you can, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! And, if you like what you see, don't forget to follow/fav! Toodles!


	31. Chapter 31: Third Time's the Charm

A/N: Ey, second chapter of the night! Just couldn't stop writing when I realized how close I was to getting to the NEW stuff! Oh, right, advance warning, this chapter revolves heavily around a headcanon I've held for years, ever since my halcyon days roleplaying BG characters with my high school friends. So yeah, I'm actually a little self-conscious about that. I've tried to build up to it, I really have. I just hope I'm doing this right.

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Day 82, Hour 4

I'd almost managed to get to sleep, Mr. Journal, but then one guard actually wandered down here and we had to fight. At least Immy raised the alarm soon enough that we were able to defend ourselves without getting hurt. My watch is in two more hours. I've got to try hard if I'm going to get any rest.

* * *

Day 82, Hour 10

We're getting ready to move on, Mr. Journal, though I got next to no rest at all. And it turns out Xan's been having way tougher a time of this than I've been giving him credit for. Just. Wow. Lot to take in. So let me start at the beginning, Mr. Journal, right from where I last left off. It's always easier for me to start at the beginning, else I just babble my thoughts all jumbled-like and nothing makes any sense. At least time's got some order to it.

So first off, after that one guard found his way down here, I had to start all over trying to get to sleep. I succeeded. I think. I don't remember dreaming, but I don't remember being awake for two hours, neither. Seems like almost the second I started sleeping, I was getting shook awake by Rasaad for my watch. Sure, he did it all gentle-like, but shook awake is still shook awake. Barely managed to keep my eyes open the whole time. Thank Tymora nothing actually happened, as I'm not sure I'd have even been _there_ enough to sound the alarm.

So, after my watch was done with, Kivan took over. Went way further out than I did, too, far as he could while still being in the shadows. I guess that's good and all for seeing folks coming this way quicker, but me, I'd be too nervous to stand that close to the lights for fear of being seen. I tried to get back to sleep after that, but no dice. You know how when you're up and sleepy for long enough, at some point it just wraps around back to wide awake but a whole lot more miserable? That's what happened. Couldn't for the life of me get to sleep. So, after a while I just gave up and sat around awake.

A couple more hours passed, and Kivan switched out his watch with Xan and went to not-sleep. Well, me, I still couldn't get a damn wink, so I went over to sit with Xan, as he was the only one up, and honestly, sitting alone in the dark gets a little nerve-wracking after a while. For a short while, we just sat in total silence. Heck, he may have even been ignoring me. I wanted to say something, anything to make it a bit less quiet, but I couldn't think of a damn thing. It's a bit hard to think when you've had no sleep, and all. That, and, well, I might have been a bit nervous that if I talked too loud or something one of the mine guards would notice us, even though we weren't near as close to the main tunnels as Kivan had sat during his watch.

He was the one what broke the long, awkward silence. Right out of the blue, he just got this vaguely uncomfortable look on his face for a minute or so and then said, real quiet-like, "You know, this isn't the first party I've traveled with," or something along those lines, anyway.

Well, I was right confused, Mr. Journal. Seemed like a strange conversation starter, and I couldn't for the life of me tell where he was trying to go with it, so, I asked him what he meant by it.

I sure as hells wasn't prepared for what came next.

So here's the deal, Mr. Journal. It's been a real long time, like, more than a century long, but Xan's traveled with two other adventuring parties before in the past. The distant past. One was a bunch of Greycloaks he'd been assigned to work with, and the other was a ragtag band of misfits whose goals matched up with his for a time, sort of like us. Now, that on its own ain't surprising – I'm sure lots of adventurers travel with several different groups in a lifetime – but here's the thing, Mr. Journal. Both those groups Xan was in? Totally wiped out. Both times, he was the only survivor.

And, he says, it's because he ran away right when things got real bad. First time, he got scared and straight up ran, and the second, he refused to follow the group into an obvious ambush after he failed to convince them to turn back. Both times, he says, he felt this, this crushing sense of dread – much stronger than the senses of dread he usually gets on a day to day basis – right before things went south. And, he felt that same sense of dread when we found the entrance to these mines. That's why he's been so damn nervous down here. That's why he panicked at the entrance. That's why he reacted so strongly when I gave him the option to stay behind.

That's what he meant by "not again."

He says he's not running away a third time. After the second time he promised himself he wouldn't, not when the lives of his companions are at stake, anyway. But, he's still convinced this is the end, and that we're all going to die down here. I get the feeling, Mr. Journal, that he's terrified the past is just going to keep repeating itself. Not sure if I can blame him for that. After all, bad things do have a way of happening in threes.

But, you know what, Mr. Journal?

I want to prove him wrong.

I don't know what kind of person Xan was a hundred years ago, but he sure as hells isn't the same person now. Just the fact that he's still here with us even when he's this scared proves that, I think. And that's why we're all going to live through this, Mr. Journal. Every last one of us. We'll show him. We'll show him things are different now. That history doesn't always repeat. That things aren't hopeless before they even start.

I. I trust Xan, Mr. Journal. I know he's not going to run away from this. That's not the Xan I know. The Xan I know stands his ground when it's important. Okay, so maybe he's run away from enemies once or twice when he was hurt bad and we had the situation under control on our own. And sure, maybe even when it _is_ important for him to stand his ground, he does it with his knees shaking, complaining loudly all the while. But he still comes through when we need him. That's what I've seen. The Xan I know, sure he's scared of near everything and damn well convinced we're all going to die horribly, but he's no coward.

I don't think he sees that, though.

I'm way fired up now, Mr. Journal. I'm going to do my best to make sure we all make it through this!

Oh. Don't tell anyone about this, though. I'm pretty sure he wanted me to keep this a secret. Said he was a bit apprehensive about telling the others, wasn't sure how they'd react. Hells, seemed like it took nearly all he had just to tell me. I can tell he had to work up a lot of courage to do that, and I'm sure a big part of his decision was just that, you know, it was something he needed to get off his chest.

I'm glad he did, though.

Anyway, Mr. Journal, the others are up and about now, and we're just about ready to continue. Looks like the coast is clear, so we should make it back to the stairway down without too many problems. Hopefully, that luck will hold once we actually get down there. After all, as we've got no healer, the scratches and whatnot we managed to get yesterday haven't fully healed yet, and we're saving what few healing potions we've got left for anything serious.

Fingers crossed, Mr. Journal. Fingers crossed.

* * *

A/N: And there we go. I hope it wasn't too bad. Tragic backstories can so easily go into the realm of the cliche, and I really wanted to avoid that. I hope I avoided that. Aaaaaaa okay um I'll shut up now, it's late and my mind, it wanders. Um um um tune in next time for some actual action as our heroes descend the stairs and fight their way through the Cloakwood Mines! As always, feel free to leave reviews and stuff! ShoujoOnmyouji out!


	32. Chapter 32: Prison Break

A/N: Hello, hello, ShoujoOnmyouji here with another chapter, this time, completely new and just now written, rather than heavily edited from my earlier writing. That's right, everyone, I am officially out of the in-game journal I wrote before, and into my gameplay notes! From here, it's only like 20 in-game days before I get to start actually playing the game again!

* * *

Day 82, Hour 11

Good news, Mr. Journal! We're down on the second level and we're not dead yet! Also, we've got a healer again. More on that later.

From what I've seen so far, this floor is taken up mostly by living quarters for the Blacktalon mercenaries working as guards for the mines, and the prisons. More importantly, thanks to Xan's keen eyes, we've found a network of secret paths down here that I don't think Davaeorn's men know about yet. We're actually hiding out in one right now as I write this.

So, let me catch you up on how things are going. The Siege of the Cloakwood Mines, part 2. At least, the beginning of it.

So, when we first came down the stairs to the second level, we caught two mercenary guards by surprise while they were eating breakfast on their watch. One of them dropped his bread in shock when he saw us, got dirt all over it. He was not happy about that. Unfortunately, we were just as surprised to see them as they were to see us, so we couldn't use it to our advantage. They drew their weapons and charged at us before we could make a move against them. Xan started chanting a spell quick as he could, but one of them caught him across the side with their sword, and he couldn't finish casting after that. Hells, he could barely stand.

Tymora was with us today, though – Rasaad and me, we rushed in before either of the guards could strike a finishing blow, and we managed to beat them down before anyone else got hurt. We all feared the worst, as it looked like that one guard had gotten Xan pretty good, but luckily, it turned out his wound wasn't all that deep. We bound it up the best we could and had him drink a healing potion, but that was really all we could do without a healer. Usually, he'd have been moaning about how he'd never survive this the entire time we were fixing him up, but today he's been real quiet-like. It's a mite worrisome. Since he was still hurt, we changed our formation up a bit so he was in the center of the group instead of the rear. That way, anyone what went after him would have to deal with the rest of us first.

It were a good thing we thought to do that, too, because we weren't five feet down the next hallway when a couple of guards jumped out and started shooting poisoned arrows at us. Had dreadful aim, though. Bad news for them. Good news for us. They did get one hit in on Immy – nicked her in the shoulder – but it wasn't much of a problem what with all the antidote we had on us. If there is one thing we have in spades, it's antidote. We stocked the Hells up on the stuff before coming here. You know, because our first attempt at breaching the Cloakwood ended in a SWIRLING MAELSTROM MADE ENTIRELY OF SPIDERS.

At the end of the hallway, there was what looked to be a small meeting area, with a half walled-off barracks sort of … eastish, I think. I'm not all that good with directions, especially not underground like this. Immy tried to go through the doorway across from the barracks, to scout out the next hallway, when she got hit by a magic missile out of nowhere! She came back immediately and said we should probably try to find another way around, as that was clearly a magic trap, and she hadn't seen it even though she'd been looking. The rest of us agreed it was probably a good idea, since there might be more of those farther down the hallway. On top of that, I've read that some magic traps just keep resetting themselves until they're disarmed. I'm not sure if this was one of those, but I sure as hells didn't want to find out.

So instead, we went through the hallway opposite the one we'd come in through and ended up in a bunch of little storerooms. We looked through most of them to see if we could find us any supplies that might help us to, you know, not die. We did find a few things, but not near as much as I'd have hoped, given the number and size of the storerooms.

We ran into a guard in one of the rooms, and boy was he scared to see us. Real scared. He didn't even attack us, just dropped his weapon and begged for his life, said he'd tell us anything he knew. Well, it turns out he didn't know anything what we hadn't already heard from the miners above. I let him go anyway, though. No sense in fighting someone who isn't trying to kill you. That's just straight up murder. Least, that was my reasoning when I did it. Kivan and Xan both thought I'd made a mistake, though, said he might come back with some of his buddies or something. Honestly, they could be right. It's got me a bit anxious. At least Xan was preoccupied enough that I was spared one of his lectures on everything that could go wrong and how my mistake was going to kill us all. Don't get me wrong, Mr. Journal, I am very worried about him – he's not been himself since we've come down here, and knowing the reasons behind it hasn't done much to offset my worries. But, it _is_ nice not to be ranted at for once. Kivan, though, he still let me know just how stupid my decision was, so I suppose I didn't escape a lecture entirely. I just got a much shorter one, is all.

After we'd left the last storeroom, Xan found a secret door down at the south end of the hall what looked like a plain old wall. It was pretty damn impressive, Mr. Journal. I couldn't see the door at all, even if I squinted real hard, and Xan found it like it were nothing. Kivan, though, he seemed to see it just fine once Xan pointed it out. In fact, he's the one what opened it for us, as it were made of heavy stone and Xan couldn't manage that on his own. I guess all those rumors about elves being really good at finding secret doors are true.

Behind the door, there was this dark, narrow passageway. After we'd walked a ways down it, two ghasts came out from one of the branching passages and started coming at us. They looked really thin. More so than normal ghasts. Were probably starved for human flesh. Of course, we weren't about to let them have any of ours, Mr. Journal. I prefer my flesh firmly attached to my body, thank you very much. Luckily, it was damn easy to take them down, as we were all in a single, narrow hallway with no cover. Immy and Kivan just shot them full of arrows before they could even get close.

Even if it was a bit of a shock, it was actually pretty good news that we ran into ghasts back here. Immy pointed that out. If Davaeorn's men knew about the passages and had been using them, then they likely would have eliminated the ghasts. After all, it would be a real pain to have something try to eat you every time you walked through a hall. If we could get a better idea of the layout of this place, we might could use these passageways to move around undetected.

As we continued down the passage, we saw several other paths branching off, but stayed on the main one, which dead-ended after we'd been walking about ten, twenty minutes or so. Xan found another hidden door there, though, so I guess calling it a dead end isn't quite right, is it? When we opened it up, we saw that it led into some sort of prison. Scared the man sweeping the floor there half to death when we walked in unannounced. Soon as he saw we were adventurers, though, he was right excited at the thought we might be here to stop Davaeorn.

Turns out he was Rill, the miner we'd heard about before. He was on cleaning duty this week, which is why he was down here instead of up in the mine. We told him what we knew about the plan to flood the mines and asked for his help in getting the other miners out safely. He said that he knew one of the guard captains pretty well and could bribe them to move the regular patrols away from the entrance and look the other way long enough for an evacuation – if he had enough money, of course. We gave him a hundred gold. He said that should be sufficient, and went on his way.

Our conversation with Rill attracted someone else's attention, too. After he'd left the room, an old dwarf what was being held in the prison approached us and started talking to us through his cell door. Hadn't noticed him before, Mr. Journal, as he'd been sitting in a shadowed corner near the back of the cell. Said he'd heard us talking about plans to flood the mine, and he wanted to help, if we'd have him. We couldn't very well leave him there to rot, either way, so we had Immy pick the lock and spring him out. After that, we retreated to the secret tunnels where we could talk more safely.

His name is Yeslick, and it turns out he's a cleric. He's pretty badly hurt right now, not to mention he's got nothing but the clothes on his back and has no spells prepared, but he's willing to do what he can to help. Says it's his fault the Iron Throne guys are here in the first place, and he wants to make it right. We've decided to let him join us, as we need all the help we can get, and honestly, it's been real tough going without a healer. We're going to rest in these passageways until he can get some spells prepared to heal himself and the rest of us before moving on. We've been able to outfit him with some equipment, as well. I always keep a spare BOSSHAMMER on hand, ever since my first one broke. Turns out Yeslick knows how to use one, so that were a stroke of good fortune. We also got some armor off some of the guards we fought earlier. The greaves are too long for a dwarf, but the cuirass fits him just fine, and at least that's better than nothing, right?

Oh! One last thing – Yeslick has confirmed what I've been suspecting ever since talking to the miners up on the first level. Tazok did bring two prisoners here during his last visit. They spent a few days in the cell next to Yeslick before they were put to work in the mines. Thing is, they weren't half-elves. It were a human and a halfling what got brought here. Which means, Khalid and Jaheira were never captured! So, they might be safe!

...Gods, if they are safe, I sure hope we haven't worried them too much.

* * *

A/N: And I think that's a good place to stop for now. Tune in next time as our heroes continue to take on the Cloakwood Mines, this time with a new ally by their side! As always, please leave a review if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. All feedback is greatly appreciated! And don't forget to fav/follow if you like what you see! Toodles!


	33. Chapter 33: Stairway to Hell

A/N: Hey there, ShoujoOnmyouji here, coming at you with another chapter! Sorry for the delay, and all, I got a job interview last week, and preparing for it took quite a bit of time. That, and well, it turns out writing completely new stuff from gameplay notes totally takes a lot more time than rewriting an old first draft, and, as you know, we recently reached the point where my original first draft ended. Gotta do more drafts and proofreads of the chapters to ensure the same level of quality now, and all. So, the updates may take a bit longer from here on out. But don't worry, they will keep coming.

* * *

Day 83, Hour 3

Gods, Mr. Journal, but this business of laying siege does make a girl keep odd hours! Look at us, just about ready to get going again in the middle of the night! Makes sense, I suppose. We can't afford to waste too much time, so we can only stop as long as is necessary.

I spent some time talking to Yeslick while we were hiding back here. He said it was his fault the Iron Throne even started this operation, after all, and I wanted to know exactly what he meant by that. We need as full a picture as we can, and all. About the Iron Throne, I mean. And so, Yeslick told me all about his tragic past. What is it with everyone I meet and having tragic pasts, Mr, Journal? Seems almost everyone I end up traveling with has a tragic past of some sort. Hells, after everything that's happened, technically even I have a tragic past! It's just slightly less in the past than the others, is all. I'm starting to wonder, Mr. Journal, if maybe I was completely sheltered when I was in Candlekeep, and that the Sword Coast is just an awful enough place to give everyone and their dog a tragic past. Um, not to make light of tragic pasts, Mr. Journal. They are, well, tragic. But gods, you'd think fate would get tired of giving so many people so many kicks in the arse.

Anyways, where was I? Yeslick's tragic past, right. So, it turns out Yeslick was born and raised right here in these tunnels, many years ago. But then, one day, the mines flooded, and his clan was all but wiped out. Alone and without a family, he wandered for a while, until he made the mistake of trusting the Iron Throne. He met a man named Rieltar what was a big name in the organization, and made friends with him. Least, Yeslick thought they were friends. He was wrong. Rieltar was just buttering him up to get information, and sure enough, Yeslick ended up giving it. Told his new friend the story of his clan, and what had happened, even led Rieltar to the old mines when he asked. And how did Rieltar thank him, Mr. Journal? The damn arse pumped the water out of the mines, claimed them for the Iron Throne, sent Davaeorn to run the operation, and then locked poor Yeslick up! It's really hurting him to see so much evil going on in his old home, you know. That's why he asked to join us and help us flood the mines once more. Gods, but I feel bad for him.

Oh, but his familiarity with these tunnels is pretty helpful- he's been able to give us a rough idea of the general layout of the place. He's also confirmed that Davaeorn's men haven't found these secret paths yet, and the only exit we haven't opened up yet leads out into the mess hall. He's told us that going out that way might not be a good idea, as the place is always busy with off-duty guards, and we'd find ourselves quickly surrounded if we came in that way. What's worse, apparently one of Davaeorn's apprentices, a mage by the name of Hareishan, spends most of her time in there practicing spells, as she finds it easier to guard the prison and the stairs down – both connected to the mess hall by a short hallway – from there. Yeslick says she sometimes goes down to the prison and uses the inmates for target practice. Several of them have died from it too. It sounds absolutely horrid, Mr. Journal. I sure am glad those two prisoners Tazok brought down here turned out not to be Khalid and Jaheira after all. I wouldn't want either of them getting regular magic missiles to the face.

We're just about ready to go now – for the last couple hours, Yeslick's been healing us up and we've been discussing how best to get past this mess hall. It seems the only other way in is through that twisty, trapped hallway, but we've thought of a way we might be able to turn that to our advantage. If we can get just one person through the hallway to get the attention of whoever's in the mess hall, we might be able to lure them into close quarters while we retreat into the previous room. That way, we'll have a tactical advantage, as we can block them off at the end of the hall, and that Hareishan character will likely have a lot more trouble firing off spells without hitting her allies. If we're really lucky, we may even get them to set off some of their own traps.

It sounds like that's going to be the plan, Mr. Journal. We're like to go put it in action as soon as Yeslick finishes healing the rest of us up. Wish us luck.

* * *

Day 73, Hour 5

Things could have gone a lot better, Mr. Journal. Long story short, the mess hall plan worked, but we let our guard down when we went down the stairs and got our sorry arses kicked. Barely made it back up here with our lives, and now we're hiding out in the secret tunnels again to rest while Yeslick gets more healing spells. Gods, we've got to be more careful. If any of us die down here...I don't even want to think about it.

But I'm sure you want more than a summary, Mr. Journal. You want the _juicy details_. And you'll have them. I may be hurt bad right now, but it sure as hells ain't enough to keep me from writing.

So, a few hours ago, we went to put our daring plan into motion. We backtracked through the secret passage back to the storerooms, and from there we made our way to the trapped hallway from earlier. We had Immy go down the hallway, as she was the most likely to find any more traps. Turns out there was one left down there, a lightning trap what she had to disarm to go any farther. A shame she couldn't have got past it any other way, as it really would have been something else to lure Davaeorn's lackeys into one of their own traps. A right bit of poetic justice.

Um. Anyways. Once she'd disarmed the trap, she signaled for us to join her. We went into the hallway and took our positions, ready to ambush anyone what came down the hallway, and Immy ran out into the next room to alert them to our presence. Weren't a few seconds later when she came running back with guards on her tail. Sure enough, that mage lady was there too, just like Yeslick said she'd be. Had them right where we wanted them, we did. Soon as they were all there in the hallway with us, I dropped an Entangle spell on the corridor while Xan hit them with Horror. We got out to a safe distance right quick, least we tried to – Kivan got stuck in my web so it took him a bit longer to get out of range. He wasn't hurt, though, and joined us soon enough. So, we were all there, further up the hallway, shooting spells and arrows and whatnot at the stuck guards from a safe distance. Then, that Hareishan lady raised her hands up and started chanting some sort of spell.

Well, Xan's eyes just about went as wide as dinner plates and he shouted at us all to take cover. We all ran out to the room by the barracks. Immy tucked into a roll and dove off to the side just in time to avoid the lightning bolts that Hareishan sent flying at us. Rasaad jumped in the opposite direction, toward the storerooms, in a real impressive acrobatics display. Pretty much backflipped out of the lightning's path right as it was about to hit. Gods, but he's amazing. Kivan and Yeslick weren't as lucky, got grazed by the bolts before getting to safety, but nothing too bad.. I was almost completely fried – totally would have been if Xan hadn't grabbed my arm and dragged me into a corner behind some crates. He managed to get me out of the way in time, even though I'd kind of frozen up in shock when he'd told us to run. I mean, wow, Mr. Journal, there is a lot more strength in those skinny little stick arms of his than I thought there was.

We all laid low out of range while the lightning bounced around the room all crackly-like. Eventually, though, it bounced right back into the corridor and electrocuted the living shit out of at least half the guards. Stuff like this is why I'm not interested in ever learning lightning spells. Too unpredictable, lots of collateral damage. It was a pretty lucky break for us, though. After Hareishan took out most of her own group for us, we were able to march back into the hallway and finish the job without too much trouble.

On the other side of the hallway was some sort of mess hall, just like Yeslick had said. He really has a wealth of useful information about this place, Mr. Journal. There were still a couple of guards left in there what had been too busy getting smashed to join in the hallway attack, but Xan hit them with a sleep spell before they could even put their tankards down and get up, so they were a bit too preoccupied with snoring and drooling on the table to go after us.

Just beyond the room, we found the stairs down, and descended deeper into the mines. We were complete idiots, though, and went down there unprepared. After a long walk down a whole lot of these stairs, we were greeted by at least ten hobgoblins right there at the base what started shooting arrows at us right off. Managed to turn me into a damn pincushion. We couldn't do anything to keep them from all attacking us at once, as Xan and me were both out of spells what could help control the situation. It became obvious pretty quick that after our fight with Hareishan we were in no shape to take these guys on, and we ran right back up the stairs before the hobgoblins could kill us dead. One of the hobgoblins followed us all the way up the stairs, though, and charged right at me. I swear, Mr. Journal, I thought that was the end right there. I thought, Xan was right, we're going to die down here, or at least, I sure am. But Rasaad just sprung right into action and kicked that hobgoblin right to the ground before he could get close to me. Isn't he just the _best_ , Mr. Journal?

Still, we were all pretty badly beat up from the surprise attack, so we went back to the secret tunnels to regroup. Yeslick already used up all his healing spells to keep us from taking a dirtnap during the hobgoblin attack, so we've got to wait for him to prepare more. Gods, but these arrow wounds sting! And I've felt real dizzy ever since getting shot. Those things might have had some sort of poison on the tips. I sure hope Yeslick gets those spells ready soon.

Still, I guess it could have been a lot worse, Mr. Journal. We're all still alive.

Maybe Tymora's with us after all.

* * *

A/N: And that's all for now. Tune in next time as our heroes go down those stairs and kick some hobgoblin butt! As always, please leave a review if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Feedback is always greatly appreciated, as I like to know how I'm doing. And, if you like what you see, don't forget to follow/fav! Toodles~!


	34. Chapter 34: Anticlimax

A/N: Hey there, everyone. Sorry I've been absent for two and a half months. I just kind of lost inspiration for a while after not getting any reviews on the past ten or so chapters. Never realized how much y'all's feedback meant to me until I started getting discouraged and second guessing myself, like "oh no, what if I've jumped the shark? What if they hate my headcanons? Shit I screwed up." But I am now done being a huge baby about that and I am back. And with the longest chapter yet, no less. Hopefully that's enough to make up for the long absence.

* * *

Day 83, Hour 21

Hello again, Mr. Journal. I'm feeling a lot better now. Gods, but it's good to have a healer on our side again.

We're just about ready to head out. Yeslick's been telling us what he knows about the floors beneath us. Apparently, back when the Orothiar clan lived here, that's where the forge, temple, and armory were, along with a residential area. Yeslick says he hasn't had a chance to go down there since returning, thanks to Rieltar being a huge butt and locking him up and all, but that the Iron Throne is like to be making use of the old forge. He also mentioned that Davaeorn's got one more apprentice we need to watch out for, lady what goes by Natasha. She's likely on the third level, seeing as we haven't run into her yet and, as Davaeorn apparently likes his privacy from what we heard, she's probably not down on the fourth.

So, here's the plan, Mr. Journal. We have to act _fast_. After our run-in with Hareishan, this place is like to be on high alert soon, if it's not already. According to Yeslick, the level below us has a path what goes vaguely in a square, divided by two other paths down the center. The stairs down to Davaeorn's quarters should be in the southeast corner. Yeslick thinks that once we get down there, we should check the temple, as he wants to see with his own eyes if it's intact. Afterwards, we'll go around the circle looking for this Natasha character, as she is not someone we want sneaking up on us. We'll make a stop at the armory on our way, as there may still be usable gear there. After that, we go straight down to confront Davaeorn for all the shit he and Rieltar have put Yeslick and these miners through. Also to get his key and flood the mines. That too. That's real important. Yeslick won't stand for his home being dishonored like this, and we gotta do what we can to thwart the Iron Throne's evil plot, even if I'm still only 90% sure what that plot is by this point.

Hope I didn't bore you too much with such a long-winded description, Mr. Journal. But plans aren't really my thing, so I gotta write it down, else I'll forget. Anyways, it looks like Yeslick's finished up healing everyone else, so we're like to head on down those stairs any moment now. Wish us luck.

* * *

Day 84, Hour 2

So much for acting fast, Mr. Journal. We have met considerably more resistance down here than we were counting on. I swear, if I see another hobgoblin anytime in the next hundred years, it'll be too soon. Oh, sure, you say, you already knew there were going to be hobgoblins down here, Linn, one of them almost killed you yesterday, Linn. But that? That was just a handful of hobgoblins, and do you know what we found down here? _Gobs_ of hobgoblins.

At the very least, Mr. Journal, the group of hobgoblins guarding the stairs didn't give us the same trouble as before, seeing as this time Xan still had all his spells. Sodding hobgoblins can't fire their stupid poison arrows if they're running around in magically induced terror. Gods, but I am glad Xan can do that. This was not the end of the hobgoblins, though. Throughout the course of our trek down these hell halls, we have run into more hobgoblin patrols than I can count on one hand. And don't even get me started on the damn hobgoblin barracks. It turns out that this floor is where the Chill hobgoblins working under Davaeorn stay. Can't take two steps without running into another damn group of hobgoblins. Immy got poisoned twice. Twice, Mr. Journal! Almost makes a girl _miss_ the spidery, spidery woods.

But I am sure you want to hear about the non-hobgoblin related things too, Mr. Journal. I would, if I were you. So here it comes. The Siege of the Cloakwood Mines, Part 3! Sans hobgoblins, of course. Those were everywhere, and it would get real tedious real fast if I filled the spaces between everything we did with "and then we ran into more hobgoblins what shot more poison arrows at us and it sucked." That would be the most boring. Who would want to read that? Not me.

So, the first thing we did after facing the group of Creatures That Shall No Longer Be Named In This Journal Entry at the foot of the stairs was head south for the temple, and once we got there, it was not a pretty sight. The place was in ruins. Broken statues were everywhere, and there was this holy symbol of Clangeddin on the wall what had been completely defaced. And right in the middle was this creepy makeshift shrine, and some guy praying to it. Guy noticed us right away, as Yeslick let out a real distressed sounding noise when he saw the state the temple was in. This guy, who looked to be one of the mine guards, asked if we were here to pay homage to some sort of "Dread Lord".

Well, Mr. Journal, I told him exactly where he could shove his Dread Lord, and he did not like that one bit. Long story short, he tried to kill us for our treacherous blasphemy and whatnot. Luckily for us, he was just as incompetent as the guards upstairs. Also, Immy totally stole the offerings at the shrine, because screw that Dread Lord guy. Who does he think he is, going and taking over someone else's holy place, huh? He sounds like the worst god.

When the rest of us started to leave the room, Yeslick didn't move. Just stood there, completely silent. He looked...empty, Mr. Journal. I tried to speak up, said not to worry, we'd make the ones what did this pay, but it didn't help. He just shook his head and told me violence only solves simple problems. I mean, I guess that's true, Mr. Journal, but the way I see it, if we flood the mines like he wants, then no one can defile his home anymore, can they? I didn't know what else I could say. But that's when Rasaad came to the rescue. He told me to leave the room, give him a minute. So, that's what I did. Rasaad stayed in there with Yeslick for a while. I don't know what they talked about, or if they even talked at all, but sure enough, after a few minutes, both of them came back out, and Yeslick seemed a lot less...lost, you know?

Once we got to the other side of the main path, we were approached by another guard who'd been sitting at a table in a nearby alcove. He demanded to know what we were doing down here and warned that our explanation better be good. Immy, thinking quick, told him that we were here to purchase some iron, but unfortunately this guard was not as numb-skulled as the ones we ran into on the upper levels, and he didn't buy it for a second. Managed to nick Immy but good with his sword before we could stop him.

After that, we tried to get our bearings. Yeslick couldn't remember which way the armory was in, so we picked a random direction. Since the main path was a circle, we knew we'd run into it eventually.

We picked wrong.

All that we found was the smithy and the forge, which were in use, just as Yeslick predicted. Even worse, they were being manned with more You Know Whats. After we passed these two rooms, we found ourselves by the stairs up, right back where we started. About the only interesting thing down that way was this really big hole in the ground right off the main pathway what had the _strangest_ noise coming out of it. Not even Yeslick knew what it was or what it was for, but confirmed that it had always been there, at least as long as he'd been alive. I suppose some mysteries must remain unsolved.

Anyways, we kept going down the big loop and ended up in the residential area, or at least what was being used as a residential area by some of Davaeorn's higher-ranked goons, one of which we walked in on while he was reading trashy books. It's an image I want out of my head, Mr. Journal. I want it out so bad.

Of course, we also ran into Natasha. The plan was to find her and subdue her so she couldn't mess us up while we tried to mess Davaeorn up. You know, use a silence spell or something and then lock her up somewhere until this was over. Not sure how that would have worked, especially what with the plan to flood the mine and all, but either way, we didn't get a chance to put it into action because she found us first. Heard us coming and burst out of one of the side rooms, already in the middle of casting a spell. Next thing I knew, Yeslick and Rasaad were acting all dizzy and out of sorts, and then they started attacking each other! Xan warned me that it was a powerful enchantment spell what's called Chaos, and that we couldn't let her cast it again. So, I let loose a Web spell, which stopped her in her tracks and tangled Rasaad and Yeslick up so much that they couldn't attack each other no more. Two birds with one stone, Mr. Journal! After that, the fight weren't too hard, though I'm still a touch upset that the plan went off the rails and we couldn't find a less deadly solution. After Yeslick said that thing about violence only solving simple problems, well, I've been thinking about that a lot for the past few hours. I've started to think that maybe I've been getting too used to it. Violence, I mean. Don't get me wrong, Mr. Journal, I still don't like it, but it doesn't make me sick the way it used to. And, I'm not sure that's a good thing.

We found the armory right down the hall from that. And what do you know, Mr. Journal, it was completely unguarded! A rare stroke of luck, that. And it weren't just the old stuff what the dwarves used to keep in there either! Among the old and mostly rusty stuff, there were some shiny new weapons and armor! Apparently, Davaeorn's men have been using this as an armory, too. We found some real well-made leather armor what fit Immy perfectly and a nice new halberd for Kivan. All in all, worth the detour.

After that, we decided to keep going down the hallway. From what Yeslick said, the stairs down should be in a little room next to the smithy, and, well, we were already far enough down the loop that it'd be faster to keep going forward if we wanted to get back there. And from there, it'd be straight down to Davaeorn.

Things didn't work out that way, though. On the way, this one door was open and we saw the most horrid scene, Mr. Journal. There was a big ogre standing in the room, surrounded by mutilated bodies. Of course, I rushed in there, in case there were any survivors. Couldn't let this stand! Especially not while my mind's been stuck on how much violence we've just...allowed to happen, or worse, caused ourselves. The others ran in after me, of course, but I kind of acted without thinking. Maybe not the best course of action.

The room was even worse once I was inside, Mr. Journal. The air was thick with the smell of death, the walls were lined with more bodies, all chained up, and there were dried blood everywhere, and a table full of nasty sharp tools. The ogre heard me come in, and he turned around and just...laughed, asked if I liked his "handiwork". I couldn't say anything, Mr. Journal. I tried to and just threw up a little in my mouth. Of course, then, the ogre started casting spells at us! I didn't know ogres could do that. I think he was trying to subdue us, so he could practice his "handiwork" on us, too. The battle after that was real difficult, but somehow we made it out okay.

By that point, though, Xan, Yeslick and I were almost completely out of spells, and in no position to take on Davaeorn, so we had to regroup. We've secured one of the empty bedrooms of a guard what attacked us early on, right near the stairs up. We've got Kivan listening at the door, and since we're so close to the way up, it should be pretty easy to tell if anyone goes up and down those stairs. We're going to stay here just long enough to heal up and replenish our spells, and then we're going down to the fourth level of this place to confront Davaeorn. Gods, but I hope our makeshift barricade in front of the door holds.

I'm going to go get some rations out of my pack now, Mr. Journal. I'm near dizzy with hunger. Here's hoping everything works out.

* * *

Day 84, Hour 16

Whew! We've had one hell of an eventful stop, Mr. Journal. Started out pretty standard, I guess, what with half of us preparing our spells and Kivan listening at the door and all. And, from what he heard, there wasn't near as much foot traffic up and down the stairs as we'd expected. Immy was getting a bit stir crazy, but that's about it.

While Yeslick was up by the door healing Kivan up, I noticed Xan looked a bit on edge, so I went over to talk to him. Apparently, this sense of dread he's been feeling keeps getting worse the deeper we go, and it's not helping matters that our plans keep going off the rails. So, I promised him, we'd survive this. I'd make damn sure we survived this, because I sure as Hells am not going to let us die down here. I don't think he believed me. But let me tell you, I'd sooner _die_ than let myself get killed. Or anyone else, for that matter.

And then, something happened what put our plan back _on_ the rails. We heard a knock at the door, and let me tell you, it gave us all quite a fright. I nearly jumped out of my skin, I did. But it turns out it weren't no guard after us. It was Rill, the miner from before. Don't know how he figured out we were in here, though. I guess he really does have eyes and ears everywhere in this mine. No wonder he's the man to see about secret plans and whatnot.

Anyways, he told us that the evacuation of the miners was underway, and we had about a day before we needed to flood the mine. After that, the guards'd stop looking the other way. And, it turns out that thanks to Rill, this place isn't on near as high alert as we'd feared, as he'd paid them off to ignore us, too. The only guards we have to worry about are the ones what report directly to Davaeorn.

Rill left just a few minutes ago. We're all about to head down the stairs and finish this.

Here goes nothing.

* * *

Day 84, Hour 21

Gods, Mr. Journal, that were a right mess! We've barely managed to escape with our lives, and we're still no closer to Davaeorn than we were before! At this point, even I'm starting to lose hope!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. As always, it's best to start at the beginning. So, we headed down the stairs and were stopped by a guard near right away. The old tired "here to buy" line had already stopped working so this time, I just told the truth. Sort of. I told him we were here to see the master of the mine. Unfortunately, this didn't work, as apparently Davaeorn hates unexpected guests so much he's ordered his guards to attack anyone asking after him without an appointment. Seems like a right terrible way to do business, if you ask me. Luckily, my bosshammer paved the way to victory.

Such glory was short-lived, though. When we tried going down the next hall, we got attacked by this strange suit of enchanted armor what had no one inside it. Pushed us all the way back to the stairs, it did. If that weren't bad enough, near all our attacks just bounced off of it like it were nothing! And boy, did it hit hard. Yeslick was gravely wounded right at the start, and Rasaad had to get right up in its face to keep it from getting closer to him. But somehow, it managed to push past Rasaad. It raised up its sword to finish Yeslick off, and gods, I couldn't watch, Mr. Journal. I was too far away, and there were nothing I could do but watch and fire off what spells I could. I felt sick, and there was this dawning realization that one of us was going to die, and then…

The finishing blow never came.

Xan leapt between the two and blocked the attack with his Moonblade. And then, he launched into this flurry of blows, pushing the thing back to the start of the hallway in just about the most intense swordfight I'd ever seen. Looked for all the world like something straight out of the old songs. Even after the thing managed to hit him several times, Xan kept going. And, once it was far away enough from Yeslick, Rasaad and Kivan joined in the assault, while I kept launching spells at it fast as I could.

And finally, the creature collapsed.

But we took heavy casualties, Mr. Journal. Sure, we all lived, but Rasaad, Xan, and Yeslick were all just about to keel over by the end of the fight, and they were all bleeding out of so many places, it was horrible. What's worse, I was completely out of spells and we were down to our last healing potion. We had no choice but to retreat back up the stairs.

It wasn't over, though, far from it. Because before we managed to secure one of the empty side rooms to rest in, we were discovered by a huge group of Davaeorn's personal guards. I've got to give props to Immy for thinking to pick up that Wand of Sleep back at High Hedge, because if it weren't for that, we would have been done for. One of them managed to get a hit in on Xan before she used it, and let me tell you, I don't think he would have survived another blow after that. I was already terrified he was going to die as it was, Mr. Journal. It's a wonder he could even stand.

Thankfully, we made it to one of the empty rooms without running into anyone else, and it looks like everyone's going to be okay as soon as Yeslick prepares his spells. Kivan and I are standing guard at the door, as right now we're the only ones in shape to do so. Gods, Mr. Journal, that was too close. If this keeps up, Xan's prediction may just come true after all.

* * *

Day 85, Hour 11

This is it. Our final trip down there. For better, or for worse. My heart feels like a stone, sitting heavy in my chest. My legs, they're lead. And, as we prepare to head downstairs again, it's so quiet. So very quiet. I wish it weren't so sodding quiet.

Our supplies are near gone, Mr. Journal, and we've had to devise a very out of the box plan to prepare ourselves what uses a lot of the weirder potions we've collected. Yeslick says Davaeorn is a mage, so magic resistance is a huge thing. Kivan, Yeslick, and I have used our three stoneskin potions. Xan just drank a potion of fortitude and the red potion we got at the Nashkel Carnival nearly a month ago. This makes him real smart, real good at spells, able to take a lot more hits, and resistant to magic, but unfortunately has physically weakened him and impaired his sense of judgment. Currently, Kivan is carrying near all his gear, including his boots and his magic robe, as all Xan is strong enough to carry right now is his Moonblade. He looks right silly, standing there barefoot and only wearing a plain tunic and trousers.

Anyways, here's the plan. When Davaeorn attacks us, which I'm sure he will, Yeslick, Xan, and I are going to immediately cast some incapacitating spells to subdue him. Silence, Horror, and Web, to be precise. Hopefully, one of them will make it through his magic defenses. Afterwards, Rasaad, Yeslick and Kivan will charge him and engage him in melee. Xan will attempt to draw his fire and engage in a magical duel with him, while Immy fires her arrows. My job is to hang back and cover Xan and Immy in case anything tries to attack us from behind.

Gods, there are so many ways this could go wrong, Mr. Journal. So many ways, I don't even want to think about it. I hope, at least, we don't run into any more of those scary armor things down there.

If we die down there, Mr. Journal, don't avenge our deaths. Go. Save yourself.

* * *

Day 85, Hour 12

It's over, Mr. Journal. It's really over. And gods, was it anticlimactic.

So. We went down the stairs, and there weren't no more guards or scary armor things or anything. Just a hallway, and then...Davaeorn. He got up from his desk, all calm-like, and said he'd been expecting us. Then he launched into a big gloaty villain speech about how he wasn't going to waste any time doing a big gloaty villain speech before killing us. The hypocrisy in the room was damn near tangible.

Yeslick, though, he was having none of that, and shot off a Silence spell before Davaeorn could even finish talking. It worked.

It turns out, Mr. Journal, that even a real powerful mage is damn near useless without his spells. He came at us and couldn't hit a single one of us. Kivan took him down near all by himself. It almost felt like we were _cheating_ , Mr. Journal. After all that we've been through down here, after all the fear and hurt and apprehension, Davaeorn just...went down near immediately. It...really doesn't feel like much of a victory, Mr. Journal.

But still, we did it. We're alive. And now all we've got to do now to shut down this operation for good is take Davaeorn's key and flood the mines. Xan is completely floored that we've all survived, and completely unharmed, at that. The man's near laughing with relief. I suppose this means his dread has gone back down to the usual levels. You know, just normal, all-purpose Xan dread.

Anyways, before we go back up, we're searching Davaeorn's study for anything we might have missed. Rasaad's going through the papers on the desk. I'll let you know if he finds anything. In the meantime, I should probably help with the search. The next time I write you, I'll be under sun and sky, and this thrice-damned sodding mine will be underwater.

Until then, Mr. Journal.

* * *

A/N: And with that, the Cloakwood Mines portion of the story finally draws to an end. A very, very anticlimactic end. In-game, I think I actually might have accidentally broken the encounter. Maybe Davaeorn is just programmed to always do his buff spells first or something, but man. All I know is, if you get a silence spell in on him before his first move, not only can he not cast spells, he doesn't actually attack you at all. Just stands there, being hostile. Never happened to me before because usually he makes his save against those spells. In all of my playthroughs of IE games, I have never experienced a cheaper boss fight. Like, it was just so cheap. I felt so cheap. But hey the rules said no reloads unless TPK, so what was I gonna do aside from just implement it into the story. But I digress. Tune in next time as our heroes piece together more of the Iron Throne's plot, flood the shit out of the mines, and try to find a way out of the spidery, spidery woods. If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review. If this two month hiatus has taught me anything, I thrive on feedback. So please give me your feedback. And if you don't like it, then flame me. Give me all your flames. Anyway, that's all for now. Toodles!


	35. Chapter 35: Whispers of War and Water

A/N: Hey everyone, I really wanted to make sure I didn't keep you waiting too long before the next chapter, considering how long you waited for the last one. I'd like to send my thanks to Winding Warpath, who pretty much left reviews on nearly every chapter over the last few days. You're great and very nice and also I like your stuff. Anyway, without further ado, here is the chapter.

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Day 85, Hour 14

We're out, Mr. Journal. We're out, and the mine is flooded, but our work is far from done. Not only do we got Branwen to worry about, but we're back to having no damn idea what happened to Khalid and Jaheira. Hopefully they're safe, at least. That's not all, though – what we found out down there in Davaeorn's study was downright alarming.

Speaking of Davaeorn's study, I still need to tell you about our time down there, Mr. Journal. So, where was I? I think I left off with Xan being right relieved we were all alive. Talked to him about it a bit before we got to helping the others with searching the place. He still couldn't believe things hadn't ended the same way they did the first two times, and I made damn sure to let him know that we couldn't have done it without him, and that I was glad he'd made up his mind to stick with us down here. I know it must have taken him a lot of courage, after all. And, I mean, he saved my sodding life several times over in those damn tunnels.

It looks like the third time really was the charm, Mr. Journal.

...Of course, he's still pretty sure we're all doomed and that we won't make it to the end of this "hopeless crusade" alive, as the Iron Throne isn't like to take this defeat lying down. But, that's just typical Xan for you, Mr. Journal, so I can't say I'm surprised. Can't exactly expect him to turn into an optimist overnight just because he took care of a couple inner demons.

Anyways, after we were done talking, we joined in searching the room and whatnot. The others really needed a couple more pairs of eyes and hands by that point, seeing as Kivan wasn't helping at all. No, he was too busy brooding in a corner because we'd missed Tazok and the old brute was like to be long gone by now, and leaving no trail behind, neither. Didn't help that none of the documents Rasaad was looking through mentioned Tazok's whereabouts.

They mentioned a whole lot else, though. Before we'd found much of anything but a couple of scrolls, Rasaad called us all over, as he'd found some real important info. A letter from Rieltar himself. The first part was nothing we hadn't seen before. Same info we'd learned back at the bandit camp – Mulahey was sent to taint the iron in the Nashkel Mines, and Tazok's bandits disrupted imports and diverted the flow of iron in the region. The second part, though, was more interesting. We learned from it that the Iron Throne headquarters was in the city of Baldur's Gate to the north, in one of the western district's noble estates. We also got a new name: "Sarevok." Man what's working directly with Rieltar and looks to be way high up on the chain of command.

Well, before we had any chance to really digest this information, there was this sharp yelp from behind us. I whirled around right when I heard it – scared the sodding hells out of me, it did – and there was Kivan, grabbing on to some twitchy kid, couldn't have been more than 16 or 17, by his shirt collar. Poor lad was nearly in tears. Begged us not to hurt him, said he was Davaeorn's apprentice, just hired on real recently. Gods, Mr. Journal, but Davaeorn took on a lot of apprentices.

Anyway, here was this kid, nearly pissing his pants with fear as Kivan glared at him and asked him all growly-like to give us one reason not to kill him where he stood. It was clearly going nowhere, as by this point the boy was so damn scared he couldn't string two words together, so I told Kivan to lay off and tried to talk to the kid myself. Turns out, Mr. Journal, that he really had no idea of some of the terrible things what the Iron Throne's been doing. Sure, he knows bits and pieces of the plan, but it was clear he'd been kept in the dark about the more brutal details. He did say he had some useful information for us though, which I bargained out of him in exchange for us letting him go on his way. And boy, was it useful, Mr. Journal. The final piece of the puzzle, as it were. Turns out the kid heard quite a few conversations between Davaeorn and the other Iron Throne high-ups, and the Cloakwood operation is for much more than mining iron to fill the market gap left by the sabotage in Nashkel. Oh, no, it's much worse than that. They've been using the iron to make and stockpile a massive amount of arms and armor. Their plan? Wait until the tensions between Baldur's Gate and Amn due to the crisis have reached a fever pitch, and then swoop in to equip the troops, playing the role of last-minute saviors.

Gods, Mr. Journal. They really _are_ trying to start a war.

Anyways, a promise is a promise, so we let the kid go after that. He thanked us and promised us that he'd be more careful finding a mentor next time and wouldn't get involved with shady folk like this again, no matter how good the fringe benefits were. Sure hope he sticks to that promise and keeps his nose clean, Mr. Journal. Seemed like a decent enough kid. Would be a shame if he threw his lot in with the wrong kind of folk again.

After that, we went back to canvassing the place for clues and whatnot. Didn't find any, but Kivan did find a secret door in one corner of the room, more than making up for all that time he wasted what with the sulking and the brooding and all. Found a bunch of chests full of treasure, which was exciting, and an angry, smelly, slimy ooze, which was considerably less exciting. Luckily, we were more than prepared to take it on, and no one was hurt too bad.

Once we were sure we'd left no stone unturned, it was time for us to finish this. Yeslick grabbed the plug key off of Davaeorn's corpse and we headed back up to the first level to put an end to the Cloakwood operation once and for all.

It were real creepy going back up through the mines. All the miners had evacuated, so the place was real empty, and real quiet. It was a bit unnerving. Abandoned places give me the heebie jeebies, Mr. Journal. Least I had it better than Xan. It turns out that damn red potion lasts a full 24 hours, so he were still walking around barefoot, and over those rough stone floors, too. We made it up to the plug, all the same. Once we got there, Yeslick stopped and walked out in front of us, then held up the key. Turning back to the rest of us, he said that soon as he opened the plug, we were going to have to run for our lives, else we'd end up washed away just like the Orothiar dwarves. Once he'd made certain we were ready, he stuck the key in and turned it.

And the floodgates opened.

There were a great rumbling from far away, Mr. Journal, and then, Yeslick darting past us, shouting back at us to run. Didn't have to tell me twice. In a split second, my legs were going fast as they could carry me down that mine tunnel. I could hear water crashing toward us close behind. All the others excepting Immy and Yeslick were behind me, but I dared not stop and look back to make sure they were keeping up, lest I get washed away. I heard a shrill scream from in front of me as I saw Immy trip over a rock at the next corner. Felt my heart drop straight into my feet for a second as I rushed toward her, but before she could hit the ground and before I could even get close, Rasaad rushed past me, caught her by the wrist, and pulled her back up without stopping.

The water hit us right as we hit the stairs up, washing us all up into that tiny wooden building what led down into the mines. That was when we realized Xan and Kivan weren't with us. I felt like I'd just been punched in the gut. Gods, Mr. Journal, I was already halfway into a full-on panic when Kivan surfaced from the water at the stairwell, carrying Xan under one arm. Apparently, Xan had stumbled when a sharp stone caught him in the foot and Kivan ran back to help him up, and the water swallowed both of them. It's a damn lucky thing Kivan is a strong swimmer, Mr. Journal, else we'd have lost them both. I don't know what I'd do if that had happened. Gods. I feel sick just thinking about it.

But they were both fine. A bit worse for wear – they'd both gotten a bit bruised up when they got hit by the torrent, and Xan had swallowed several mouthfuls of water – but otherwise, fine. I can't even begin to describe how relieved I was, Mr. Journal.

We've stopped to catch our breath for a bit just outside the main encampment, but we've got to move on as soon as we can – we need to get back to the Shadow Druids and explain what happened. I don't want to know what will happen to Branwen if they find out about Faldorn's death before we can temper the news with news of our success here. Yeslick is busy healing Kivan and Xan before we head out. Kivan is stoic and silent, as always, and Xan has taken his near-death experience as a sign that our survival today was nothing but a fluke and the end is right around the corner, and is making sure all of us know it. In other words, it finally feels like things might go back to normal. Gods, but it feels good to see sunlight again.

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A/N: And that's it for now! The plot thickens, followed by a daring escape! My D8 of Fate really came in handy for fleshing out this chapter, let me tell you. Tune in next time as our heroes return to the Shadow Druids' territory! What will they find there? Only time will tell. As always, if you have questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review! I really do value your feedback. ShoujoOnmyouji, out!


	36. Chapter 36: Got Those Baby Wyvern Blues

A/N: And here we are with another chapter. I apologize in advance that the majority of it is taken off with a single fight, and that fight is essentially a garden-variety random encounter, but it was a really hard fight, okay? It was a really hard fight and I managed to survive and everyone pulled off a LOT of interesting badassery. The tension and excitement was high during that fight, y'all. I just had to write about it in complete detail. I had to.

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Day 85, Hour 21

Gods, Mr. Journal, these woods suck. Today, we have been attacked by the entire gamut of things what are trying to kill us: mercenaries, wolves, wyverns, and of course, spiders. Always with the sodding spiders, Mr. Journal! Every time you think there won't be any more spiders, _there are more spiders_. There are always more spiders. Still not as bad as the wyverns, though. Gods! So here we are, all bruised, battered, with one foot already in our graves, trying to set up camp somewhere nothing bad will notice us. I am bleeding in at least five different places, Mr. Journal. It's not fun.

As if that weren't bad enough, it has become painfully clear that we are 100% lost. Faldorn led the way to the mines before, and those of us what are still alive have zero idea how to get anywhere. Yeslick has a vague idea of how to get out of the woods entirely, but knows nothing about which way the Shadow Druid enclave is, as they set up shop here fairly recently.

But enough about where we are and what we're doing right now. I'm guessing you want to hear about how we got our arses into this mess. So. Where did I leave off?

Right. We'd managed to make it out of the mines and had stopped to catch our breaths just outside the main encampment. Got moving again right quick, though, as we were anxious to get Branwen back with us. Only really stopped long enough for Yeslick to heal Kivan and Xan up after their brush with death in the mines.

We'd been journeying through the woods for not an hour when we were set upon by a horde of tasloi. Came right out of the trees, they did. Never saw them coming. They went down pretty fast, but one of them managed to stab Xan with a spear before giving up the ghost. The injury didn't seem all that bad, and Xan was doing all right, so we kept going.

We had to stop to catch our breaths by this lake after another half hour, though, as right around then the fortitude potion Xan had drank earlier started wearing off, and suddenly he was having a lot more trouble dealing with that spear wound. Luckily, it was still minor enough that my powers could handle it. Xan was still a bit leery about me using them, though, as I've still got no idea how I ended up with them. But, I used them anyway. Figured if the spidery, spidery woods were even half as spidery as they were during our first trip here, we'd want to save Yeslick's healing spells for the big stuff.

We decided to stop at the lake a little longer and have a bit of dinner, as none of us had had much to eat in a while. Was a nice spot to sit down for a meal, too. The water was all still and clear, and the lake's edge was damn near well carpeted in all sorts of wildflowers. Right pretty, it was. But of course, Mr. Journal, it did not work out, because these woods hate us and do not want us to have nice things. No sooner than we'd unpacked our rations, a troop of Blacktalon mercenaries showed up – more of Davaeorn's men. Apparently there were some stragglers what had been out topside on patrol when the mines were flooded. Naturally, when they found out what had happened, they'd gone out to track down the ones what done it. Immy tried to negotiate with them, pointed out with Davaeorn dead there weren't no one around to pay them. No dice there, though, as it turns out they're on Rieltar's payroll instead. So, they tried to kill us.

The battle went downhill quick when it turned out they'd stationed about three archers in the underbrush. Next thing I knew, Kivan was getting shot full of arrows. When I saw him fall, I feared the worst, but then he got right back up again and straight up charged the archers. They never stood a chance, Mr. Journal. I'm sure glad Kivan is on our side.

The rest of us had our hands full with the swordsmen, but between Immy's arrows, Xan's spells, and my BOSSHAMMER, we made it out all right. Kivan was badly hurt by the end of the fight, though, and Yeslick had to heal him up again. Gods, but it's lucky Yeslick's got a lot of healing spells. Especially since after that, the trek through the woods were one endless parade of stuff what tried to kill us. Wolves, spiders, you name it. Some of the spiders were even of the sword variety, which was the absolute worst, Mr. Journal. One of them damn near killed me, and probably would have if Xan hadn't saved my arse by magically scaring the crap out of it. Oh, and Rasaad knocked it on its back into the water after that, and it couldn't get out. It was totally kick-arse, Mr. Journal.

We passed by that one wyvern cave from before sometime in the late afternoon, and that was reassuring, as it meant we were at least going vaguely in the right direction, but once we found the river and started following it like before, nothing looked the same. I was starting to think maybe we crossed the wrong bridge and ended up on the opposite bank by mistake.

And that's when we ran into the wyverns, Mr. Journal. Baby wyverns, but wyverns nonetheless. Just our luck they were out hunting at the time instead of in their cave, huh? One of them managed to get me but good, but Rasaad protected me from further harm. Kicked the ever-loving crap out of it, he did. Several more wyverns were flying in through the trees, and before we knew it, they were everywhere. Xan tried to cast a sleep spell at them, but he stumbled and faltered and the spell fizzled. Apparently, he'd gotten a splinter in his foot.

Didn't have any time to think about what was up with Xan's spells though, as another wyvern flew straight at me and started wailing on me. I got out my BOSSHAMMER, and Yeslick got out his, and we both bosshammered it straight in the face. I think that man has the makings of a potential new bosshammer buddy, Mr. Journal, I really do. Once we get Branwen back, the three of us will be able to take on the _world_. And the boss. With our BOSSHAMMERS.

But all the bosshammers in the world couldn't help us when the wolves showed up. Charged in right after us _while we were still fighting the sodding wyverns_. To make matters worse, Yeslick had just used up his last healing spell covering my sorry arse! Xan tried to hold the wolves off long enough for the rest of us to change our battle formation, and got his sword arm completely mangled for his trouble. Immy managed to get off a blast from her Wand of Sleep before the wolves could mangle anything else though. Hit all of them, and bought us some time to finish off the wyverns, but unfortunately, that little delay also bought the wyverns enough time to surround Yeslick, cutting him off from the rest of the group.

Another wyvern broke off from the group and started chasing Xan, who really couldn't fight back with his arm the way it was, and the rest of us were divided between trying to take the damn things out before they could hurt Xan or Yeslick. Kivan and Rasaad were trying to fight their way through the wyverns surrounding Yeslick so they could join him in the fight, and Immy and me were shooting at the one chasing Xan in an attempt to bring it down before it could catch him.

Rasaad managed to royally piss off one of the wyverns near Yeslick, and lured it off away from the others, and when he called to me for support, I had to leave the one going after Xan to Immy. So Rasaad was wailing on this one wyvern while I shot it full of magic missiles. A couple seconds later, though, it stung Rasaad with its tail and he stumbled a bit. He'd been poisoned, Mr. Journal!

Well, I shouted out to him, then, without really thinking, tossed an antidote in his direction. Luckily, it didn't backfire on me, because he caught the thing straight in midair and downed it in one swift motion!

Rasaad is the most badass, Mr. Journal.

Meanwhile, Kivan and Yeslick, having finished their skirmish, had joined Immy in trying to go after the wyvern what was chasing Xan. Xan was pretty much running for his life at this point, and I went to go help him, but then the other wyvern up and poisoned Rasaad again. I had to run back to try to get another antidote to him but once I got there, the sodding poison had already done so much damage that Rasaad could barely stand. I ran between him and the wyvern, bosshammer at the ready, and damn near shaking in my boots.

So, while I was standing up to this wyvern, the other one had caught up to Xan, who was completely flipping out by this point. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, saw him start running as fast as he could, with all the strength he had left in him, Mr. Journal. He got out a sling, started loading it best he could with only one good arm while he was running. And then, as a last ditch effort, he took the sling in his off hand and lobbed a bullet straight at the wyvern. It threw him off balance and the last thing I saw before having to turn back to block an attack coming straight at me was Xan falling over on his arse and the wyvern taking that bullet straight to the head and crumpling to the ground dead.

After that, only the wyvern by me and Rasaad was left, and I was tiring out fast, not to mention hurt as all Hells. Yeslick came in to help me out, but the both of us were on our last legs. A few seconds later, Immy and Kivan's arrows started whizzing past the wyvern, a few of them hitting it. Then, its tail lashed out at me like a blur, and I couldn't get out of the way in time. Suddenly, I felt real dizzy, and I could barely stand. My bosshammer dropped to the ground. I saw Yeslick next to me and he looked ready to drop as well. And then, I heard Xan's voice chanting behind us, and after that, the wyvern screamed as it was wreathed in flame and fell down dead. Xan had managed to get back up, Mr. Journal, and had rushed in and pulled off a one-handed Burning Hands at the last minute!

After that, all that was left was to pick off the wolves before they woke up and attacked us again. Immy and Kivan went to do that, as they were the only ones left what weren't gravely injured.

We've stopped to rest now, as none of us are in any shape to move on after those wyverns totally wrecked our arses. Immy and Kivan have been forced into the lion's share of the work setting up camp, as my legs refuse to work, Xan's arm is out, and Rasaad keeps drifting in and out of consciousness. Yeslick is still in good enough shape to help out a little, despite his injuries, but has had his hands full tending to our wounds best he can without any spells left. He finished patching me up a few minutes ago, and he's over there trying to get Xan's arm in a sling right now. He said that he's going to go prepare healing spells once he's sure the rest of us will manage. He told me I should be able to walk again when the poison wears off in a few minutes, and I've offered to help him out in any way I can once the feeling in my legs comes back. He's taken me up on the offer. Told me that once he goes off to prepare his spells he's going to need someone to keep an eye on Rasaad and make sure his condition doesn't get any worse. I may be aching all over and battered up six ways to Second-day, but that, at least, is one thing I can do.

So, now you're all caught up. I'll write you again later, once I've got more to say. Hopefully, our little campsite will look a bit less like a temple emergency ward by then. Fingers crossed, Mr. Journal, fingers crossed.

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A/N: And that's where we're stopping for now. Tune in next time as our heroes continue on towards the Shadow Druid enclave and hopefully avoid getting their asses handed to them by any more wyverns. IF you have questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review. Your feedback is important, and I thrive on it. And if you hated it, by all means send constructive criticism. Or flames. The former will help me improve my writing and the latter WILL ONLY MAKE ME STRONGER AHAHAHAHAHA. At least, I assume that's what will happen. I have never actually gotten a flame before. Um. Anyways. Toodles!


	37. Chapter 37: Along The River's Edge

A/N: Hey everyone, ShoujoOnmyouji here with the next chapter! I'm trying to get these out in a pretty timely manner, as I really don't want to subject y'all to another two month wait. I think one every couple few days or so is pretty good. Anyways, enjoy!

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Day 86, Hour 21

We're going nowhere fast, Mr. Journal. Rasaad's injuries were so bad we've had to stay camped here the entire day. Yeslick still hasn't managed to get him completely healed up, and it's getting real dark, so we're going to have to wait another night, to boot. At least Rasaad's doing well enough to walk around again, and the rest of us have completely recovered.

I don't know about the others, but I slept some real odd hours today. Last night, once I could feel my legs again, I went over to look after Rasaad while Yeslick got himself some more healing spells. He was unconscious during most of it and I was real scared and worried, Mr. Journal. I didn't know if he'd be okay. Luckily, he didn't take any turns for the worse while I was on watch. Gods, it had to have been only a couple hours before sunrise by the time Yeslick came back with his spells ready. Said he'd already healed Xan as he was going to need to spend most of his time tending to Rasaad and didn't want to leave the rest of us in terrible condition for most of the day while he did. Then he cast a healing spell on me and told me to go get some rest, and that he'd handle things from here.

Well, Mr. Journal, I may have been right worried about Rasaad, but Yeslick didn't need to tell me twice. I was _exhausted_. Could barely keep my eyes open! Once I got into my bedroll, it were all I could do just to keep from falling asleep before my head even hit the ground! At least I was able to stay awake until then, Mr. Journal, and I didn't fall asleep in the middle of the night like I did the last time I was supposed to stay up and look after someone.

By the time I woke up, it were already early afternoon, Rasaad was awake, and Yeslick had gone off to pray to Clangeddin for more spells. Immy saw me walking around and gave me some of our rations, along with some berries what Kivan had gone off and foraged that morning. Apparently, I'd just missed lunch. I asked Immy where Kivan had gotten off to, as I didn't see him anywhere, and she said he'd stalked off around an hour ago to patrol the area and make sure nothing snuck up on us.

After that, I went over to go check on Rasaad. He was doing a lot better, which was a relief, but he was still pretty badly hurt. It was kind of painful even to look at, Mr. Journal. He seemed to be happy for my company, though. We mostly just sat in silence for a while, which was nice.

It didn't last too long – pretty soon, Immy came over to join us and wanted to talk. She said that she was bored, and she couldn't go bother Xan as he had his face stuck in his spellbook. The three of us ended up swapping childhood tales. Immy and I told Rasaad about all the hijinks we got up to in Candlekeep when we were wee. Well, the less embarrassing ones, at least. Gods, but I'm glad Immy didn't bring up the Blackstaff incident. I don't think I would have been able to live it down if Rasaad knew about that. Rasaad told us about some things that happened when he and his brother were growing up as pickpockets on the streets of Calimport. Gods, but he's had a rough time of it. It's a wonder he can look back on that time full of bad memories and still treasure the few good ones he's got of it. I can't help but wonder if it'll be the same way for me and Immy when we're looking back on this mess years later.

We stayed there reminiscing about the past for an hour or so before Yeslick showed up and shooed Immy and me off so he could continue with Rasaad's treatment. The two of us went to make dinner after that. Immy offered to do it on her own, but I insisted on joining her, because the last thing everyone needs after recovering from that battle against the wyverns is another battle against food poisoning.

Things are winding down around now. Kivan's returned from his patrol and is keeping watch on the edge of camp, and the rest of us are getting ready to turn in for the night. Xan's been getting his things all together and organized, as that sodding red potion finally wore off and he can carry his own gear again. Also, wear shoes. It's about time, too. He doesn't have the best record for, you know, not stepping on sharp things. Yeslick's already asleep, has been for a while. I don't think he slept at all last night, so I imagine he must be exhausted. Rasaad's mostly better now, so I imagine the rest of the healing can wait until the morning. I'm really not sleepy at all as I haven't been awake all that long, but I'm going to try to get some rest anyway, as I'd rather not risk ending up dead tired in the middle of our trek through the woods tomorrow.

* * *

Day 87, Hour 5

I can't even see the sun yet and I'm already wide awake, Mr. Journal. Have been for at least a couple hours, at that. I had another one of those sodding nightmares, and it woke me up in a cold sweat during the wee hours. This time, I dreamt of blood. Blood everywhere, a torrent rushing across the Realms and cutting a swath of red through everything in its path. Blood pouring through the entire damn world until everything was just a sea of blood. And traveling over it all was me. Me, at the helm of a ship called Persistence, forging a path under sails made of pure sodding resolve. But no matter how hard I tried to out-sail it, the storm still came. The last thing I remember before waking up is a wave of blood crashing onto the deck and washing me overboard.

When I woke up, I saw Yeslick standing over me, looking all worried. Apparently he'd heard me screaming in my sleep while he was preparing his spells and stopped to investigate. I really didn't mean for everything to just come pouring out of me like a damn river made of words but that's what happened. I told him everything about the dream I'd just had, and how it wasn't the first time this had happened. I was still real freaked out, Mr. Journal, and I needed someone to talk to about it, and, well, Yeslick was right there.

He says he doesn't know if the dreams mean anything, as he's not that great at interpretation and all, but that considering all the crap I've been put through, it's totally normal to have nightmares. Says he has them a lot too, though his are mostly about the flood what left him homeless so many years ago. I can't imagine how many emotions flooding those mines a few days back must have dragged up for him. Anyway, he told me he'd be right surprised if there were a single person in this group what hadn't had any nightmares since this started, though he had to admit that maybe there were a bit more to mine as I always seemed to wake up with more weird magic powers after them. Unfortunately, he's just as clueless as Branwen and Xan were as to what could be causing that.

Yeslick's gone back to preparing his spells since then, and I've been lying here in my bedroll trying to get back to sleep. It hasn't worked though, and I've just about given up. It's starting to get light enough to write out here, so I may just stay up and try to get the creative juices flowing. Might do a touch to get my mind off things.

* * *

Day 87, Hour 7

The time had come to end the Throne's involvement in this place  
Where by their hand, the scarred land grew restless in its space  
The Cloakwood Mines, so long lain empty, opened once again  
Ancestral home of dwarves defiled by the hands of false friends

Beside the plug the heroes stood, the wizard's key in hand  
Ready to let the waters wash this evil from the land  
A click, a thump, a wailing keen all echoed through the hall  
As the thundering torrent descended upon them all

The heroes ran with all they had, the waters at their backs  
The daring dash more taxing than the earlier attacks  
And as they reached that final bend, their apprehension grew  
Despite their fear, they reached the stairs and exit – all but two.

….Hm. I'm not sure about this, Mr. Journal. I don't think this is good enough to make it into the grand epic I'm going to write when this is all over. It doesn't capture the suspense, the urgency of the moment. The part where we escape from the mine as it floods needs to be _big_. Too big for me to convey right.

Aw, sod it all.

* * *

Day 87, Hour 8

Hey there, Mr. Journal. I'm just writing to let you know that the sun is up, everyone's awake now, and Yeslick has totally healed Rasaad up. We're going to be headed out real soon. After some discussion, we've decided to keep following the river. Even if we ended up on the opposite side of it, it'll still lead us in the right direction, unless it splits somewhere and we don't know about it. I sure don't remember seeing any splits though, so we'll probably be fine. I'll let you know how it goes.

* * *

Day 87, Hour 21

Evening, Mr. Journal. I am happy to tell you that there is nothing much to report. Sure we're still tromping through these woods, and sure, it's starting to get right tiring, but at least we haven't run into anything real dangerous today. For now, at least, the spidery, spidery woods have decided to play nice for a bit. I am starting to get a bit antsy, though. I don't remember it taking this long to get to the mines. What if we accidentally ended up walking past the Shadow Druid enclave or something and now we're completely lost? I just don't know, Mr. Journal.

I sure hope Branwen's okay.

We're setting up camp right now. Kivan just got back from his foraging trip, and he and Rasaad are working together to make dinner. I've been over talking with Xan and figuring out some plans for the next morning. He wants to prepare some identify spells so we can properly examine some of the stuff we found in the mines, but he also wants to make sure he's got enough leeway to prepare some other spells so if we're attacked in the middle of the night we won't all die horrible, painful deaths.

His words, not mine, Mr. Journal.

Anyways, I've agreed to help him out a bit. He's given me an extra Identify scroll from the party scroll case to scribe to my spellbook, and he's been teaching me how to cast it. It's a bit different from the combat spells I've learned, Mr. Journal. The hand movements are a lot more subtle, and it's hard to get them right. It's a good thing I've got Xan to show me how. He's off bothering Kivan and Rasaad right now though, something about making sure Kivan doesn't put anything he's allergic to in the food by accident. I swear, the man gets one little rash after lunch one time and now he has to supervise every other sodding meal.

Still, I'm making pretty good progress with this spell, and once Xan gets back, I think we'll be able to get this thing to work out. Between this and my bardic knowledge, I'll be able to make myself real useful tomorrow morning.

* * *

Day 88, Hour 6

Gods, but I'm glad Xan decided to split identification duty between the two of us! We were attacked by spiders in the middle of the night not once, but _twice_! The spidery, spidery woods strikes again! If Xan had prepared more Identify spells instead of Sleep spells, it could have been a whole sodding lot nastier than it was. As it were, we managed all right, though it was right annoying to have our sleep broken up into three tiny sleep chunks. I prefer my sleep one big chunk at a time, thanks. Please give me the chunkiest sleep.

Thankfully, ever since we've been up for good, the morning has been entirely spiderless. If only this whole sodding forest were entirely spiderless. Wouldn't that be amazing, Mr. Journal? The spiderless, spiderless woods. Xan and I have managed to figure out what most of this loot is, though we've still got a few mystery scrolls.

Davaeorn's robe had a ton of real useful enchantments on it, but it was completely useless to us, because it turns out only evil people can wear it. Sodding evil wizards, making sure us heroes don't get any use out of their cool stuff. At least we found some neat bracers what gave a lot of magical defense, a protection scroll, and a lot of magic arrows. Xan's taken the bracers as he's got the lowest defenses of all of us.

Oh! Also! The two robes what we found down on the third level were magic, too! Xan called them "traveler's robes" or something, says they're popular among mages what have to be on the road a lot because of the defensive enchantments woven into the fabric or something, and that he used to own a set himself a while back. They weren't near as good as the magic robes me and Xan were already wearing, but from what he's told me they're like to net us a good bit of gold back in town.

Kivan's out foraging for fruit and whatnot again, and soon as he gets back we'll have some breakfast. After that it's yet another day of following this river through the Cloakwood. Hopefully we'll get back to the Shadow Druid enclave soon.

Hold on, Branwen. We're coming.

* * *

A/N: And thus ends yet more tromping through the woods. Also, delicious, delicious character interaction. I am quite proud of some of this character interaction. I am especially trying to work at slowly starting to flesh out Yeslick a little more, as I've actually grown really fond of him during this playthrough and there might be a chance of my keeping him in the party for quite a while, though that's not exactly set in stone yet. This is the first time I've had him on my party for more than a really short time, though. Tune in next time as our heroes finally reach the sodding Shadow Druid enclave. If you've got questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review. I greatly appreciate any and all feedback. Anyways, see you next time!


	38. Chapter 38: Reunion

A/N: And here we are with another chapter! Things are moving along nicely, yep yep.

* * *

Day 88, Hour 14

We've found the Shadow Druid enclave, Mr. Journal, but Branwen isn't here. No one is. The whole place is straight-up abandoned, and we've got no idea where the Shadow Druids went. We've stopped for a breather in the Archdruid's tree, which is just as empty as the rest of this place.

We crossed into Shadow Druid territory earlier this morning. I knew it for sure when I saw the first bridge we'd crossed on our way out to the mines. I felt a great hope swelling up in me then, Mr. Journal. We'd made it, and we knew where we were, and everything was going to be okay! But then, once we got to the enclave, everyone was gone, and now I don't know what to think.

Kivan says that if we look around the area, he might be able to pick up on a trail what we can use to track them with, but we'll have to be quick. We're near out of supplies, and we can only spare one day to look for them if we don't want to run out before making it out of the woods. Even if that weren't the case, I imagine Kivan wants to get out of these woods right quick now that he knows Tazok's long gone from this place.

We're about to head out again and start our search. Gods, but I'm worried, Mr. Journal. I sure hope Branwen is okay.

* * *

Day 88, Hour 20

We didn't find the Shadow Druids, Mr. Journal, but we did find Branwen! And what's more, Khalid and Jaheira were with her, and they were all three of them okay! I haven't been this relieved in a long time. Everything's turning out just fine, Mr. Journal.

Okay, so, here's the lowdown on everything what's happened since we started our search near six hours ago. It started raining something fierce soon after we left the Archdruid's tree. The wind was blowing like mad, and there were lightning and thunder everywhere. It was almost as if the sky were mad at us, Mr. Journal. Though, come to think of it, we're probably on the Shadow Druids' shit list right now, so that might not be too far from the truth.

Anyway, the woods were, as always, filled with stuff what wanted to kill us. No spiders, though. Little kindnesses, Mr. Journal, little kindnesses. All of these damn bears though, they want a piece of Yeslick. Near every bear we ran into went straight for Yeslick, though precious few of them managed to make it past his armor and all of them met his BOSSHAMMER.

Either way, about three hours out we ran straight into an ambush. The next thing we knew, we were surrounded by a pack of worgs. Dreadful smart animals. Strong too. Several of them went for me at once, and I would've been done for if Xan hadn't fended them off with his spells. They kept coming, though, and pretty soon we were overwhelmed. Just when it looked like they had us but good, though, who should come crashing out of the bushes but Branwen, brandishing her BOSSHAMMER and screaming out battlecries to Tempus. Gods, what a sight for sore eyes!

Well, Mr. Journal, I was right glad to see her, and my fighting resolve just about doubled knowing she was okay, but I still weren't near prepared for what came next. Khalid and Jaheira burst out close behind her and joined the fight. Gods, Mr. Journal, I just about broke down into tears. I haven't seen them for near a month now, and I was starting to fear the worst.

With those three on our side, the fight was over quickly. As soon as the last worg fell, Kivan went straight over and started talking to Branwen before we could even get a word in edgewise, asking her what had happened, stuff like that. There was a note of urgency in his voice then. I guess he was a lot more worried about her than he'd been letting on.

Well, instead of answering him right then and there, Branwen suggested that we all get out of the rain first before catching up, as it were a long story. So, we backtracked to the Archdruid's tree, which was still totally abandoned. Once we had a roof over our heads, we all shared our stories of what had happened since we last met. You've already heard our group's story, Mr. Journal, but I'll let you know what happened with the others.

Apparently Faldorn wasn't the only one what the Shadow Archdruid had sent to keep an eye on us, and there were scouts shadowing us in the trees. So, news of Faldorn's death in battle traveled fast. Branwen wasn't sure how the Shadow Druids would act on the news, but saw how upset they were, and, fearing the worst, snuck off from the enclave to find us and warn us. She got lost, went around in circles for a bit, and ended up right back at the enclave. When she got back, though, the place was totally deserted. Figuring they'd either gone after her or us, she redoubled her efforts and got twice as lost. She kept traveling through the woods, though, for several days. Wouldn't give up, as that weren't what a warrior would do. But one night, she was set upon by a whole pack of giant spiders. Would have been the end of her if Khalid and Jaheira hadn't shown up and helped her fight. After that, the three of them started heading towards the Cloakwood Mines to find us, which turned out to be in the opposite direction of the way Branwen went. They'd run into us getting our arses handed to us by those worgs in the middle of that.

Khalid and Jaheira never got captured by bandits or anything like that. Hadn't even run into trouble looking for them. What did happen was that they'd unexpectedly run into one of the contacts from their 'organization' while they were on the search and had to go do something what required their immediate attention. Jaheira still won't tell me what that organization is, though, only that it's currently opposed to the Iron Throne and is trying to throw a wrench in their evil plans. I'm still curious and more than a touch suspicious about who Khalid and Jaheira work for, Mr. Journal, but for now, it's good enough for me that they're friends of Gorion's and have got the same enemies I do. They're not bad people, after all, I do know that much.

Anyways, by the time they'd gotten back from whatever it was they were doing, they'd missed our meeting time by weeks. They got back to the Friendly Arm just a couple days after that last time we stopped there, Mr. Journal. They heard from Bentley that we'd gone after those bandits to the north, and he was pretty sure we'd found them and beaten them soundly, but wasn't sure where we were headed next, only that we were looking for them. Gods, Mr. Journal, but I can't believe we forgot to mention to Bentley we'd be headed to the Cloakwood next. We were so sure those two folks what Tazok had captured were Khalid and Jaheira that we didn't think to leave word in case they showed up. Either way, with not much else to go on, the two of them headed up to the bandit camp to look for clues on where we'd gone after that.

They might have not found us at all if it weren't for that Shar-Teel lady what we'd met earlier. Khalid and Jaheira ran into her a few days out from the bandit camp. She recognized them from our descriptions and pointed them in the right direction, though not before challenging Khalid to a test of strength and steel. I asked if he won, but he just got all quiet when I did, and Jaheira just laughed. Still, either way, I sure am glad we met Shar-Teel and told her what was up, Mr. Journal. If I ever see her again, I'll have to thank her.

Anyways, it's getting late, and we're all pretty tired, so we're going to stay the night here. Jaheira says we can come up with a game plan in the morning. Kivan's taken first watch, so I'd better get as much rest as I can before it's my turn. Good night, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 89, Hour 10

Morning, Mr. Journal. We talked it over, and it looks like we're going to be splitting up again. We've all agreed that traveling through the Cloakwood in such a large group is a bad idea, as the noise would likely draw in every damn spider, wolf, and tasloi from here to Baldur's Gate. This time though, it won't be for such a dreadful long time, at least. We'll be meeting up at the Friendly Arm Inn in a few days to discuss our next move, and whoever gets there first is going to wait there until the other group catches up. Branwen is going with Khalid and Jaheira, and the rest of us are in the second group. I don't like seeing them go right when we found them again, but I just got to keep telling myself it's only for a few days this time. Either way, I sure am glad everyone's okay. I've missed everyone being all together like this.

Things are finally starting to look up, Mr. Journal.

* * *

A/N: And that's where we're stopping for now. It may be a bit short, but there isn't another good stopping point for a while, not until they make it out of the Cloakwood. And speaking of which, tune in next time as our heroes finally get the Hells out of the Cloakwood! If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review. Your feedback is appreciated. No, seriously, I, like, thrive on you guy's feedback. See you next time.


	39. Chapter 39: Welcome to the Spiderdome

A/N Here's the next chapter! Unfortunately, everyone is still in the Cloakwood. But I swear, the Cloakwood segment is fast approaching its end!

* * *

Day 89, Hour 23

It's been less than a day before we parted ways with Branwen and the others, and the spidery, spidery woods are already back to their spidery, spidery ways. Kivan and Xan were both roughed up pretty bad, and poisoned, on top of that! What's worse, even though we had more than enough antidote left to handle it, they're still in right poor condition after the ordeal. Kivan is just about at death's door, and I'm seriously scared he might not make it, Mr. Journal. He got bit a ton of times, and things look real bad. I don't think I've ever seen him this beat up. He's always the one what gets out without a scratch, but this time, it's all different, and it has me right shaken. Gods, but I hope he pulls through. I mean, he probably will, Mr. Journal. He's got to be about the toughest person I know. I'm not quite so worried about Xan, as he's still got enough energy left to loudly complain about his injuries, and he's doing it right now. He usually gets real quiet when things are really bad, so irritating as it may be, it's a right good sign.

Yeslick's looking after both of them right now, and the rest of us are getting ready to turn in for the night. Hopefully, everyone will be okay come morning.

* * *

Day 90, Hour 6

It looks like we'll still be here for a while yet, Mr. Journal. Xan's mostly better, if still a bit out of sorts, but Kivan is still real poor off. I mean, at least it's pretty clear now he's going to be okay, and that's a relief, but he's in no condition to travel. Yeslick's off preparing another round of spells right now. Speaking of spells, I should probably go prepare mine too, Mr. Journal. We may not get back on the move until way later, but in the spidery, spidery woods, it never hurts to be prepared.

Oh, happy Midsummer by the way, Mr. Journal. Some way to celebrate it, huh? I think I prefer the little festival we used to have back in Candlekeep, though.

* * *

Day 90, Hour 21

I've got good news, and I've got bad news. The good news is Xan and Kivan are fit as fiddles now. The bad news is the rest of us are right exhausted for the most spidery of reasons. Spiders attacked us four or five times while we were camped out here today, and me, Immy, and Rasaad had to fend them off and keep them from getting to the others. Those damn spiders, they just kept coming! Seemed damn near endless, they did. I swear, it's like they can smell when we've got wounded. I am so sodding tired of all these sodding spiders. Hopefully, they will let us alone long enough that we can at least get some sleep tonight. We're sleeping in shifts just in case. Tomorrow, we are going to try to get the Hells out of here.

* * *

Day 91, Hour 6

Good morning, Mr. Journal! Thankfully, we made it through the night without any more spider attacks. Could be they're more active when the sun is up. We're packing up our gear and getting ready to start moving again. Gods, but I can't wait to get out of these woods.

* * *

Day 91, Hour 12

Gods, but this has been the most spidery day yet, Mr. Journal! At least we're close to getting out of this sodding place, so it may also be the last spidery day we have. So, let me tell you about our spidery, spidery adventures.

So, for a few hours, we tromped our way through the Cloakwood, battling giant spiders at every turn, because that's just how the Cloakwood rolls. I don't call it the spidery, spidery woods for nothing, Mr. Journal. About mid-morning, though, we came across this giant dome made entirely of webs. So, we had the stupidest idea, Mr. Journal. We decided to go inside. Oh sure, I knew it was probably full of sodding spiders, but damned if I wasn't curious. That and, well, by that point we were near the area where we'd met that one man what was looking for his brother - Tiber, I think his name was - and something told me he wouldn't have looked in a place like this. Mostly because he's probably not stupid enough, but still!

Long story short, Mr. Journal, I was right. The guy's brother was in there, dead as a doornail. Long story long, now that's considerably more spidery. So, inside the dome, everything was just one big giant spiderweb. And right at the center of it all was this really ugly fat naked lady with spiders of all sizes just crawling all around her. Soon as she saw us enter, she told the spiders to attack us, but Xan reacted near immediately and magically charmed her. After that, she called them off and went off into this long tale of how she came to be here. It were a real sad story, but I can't say she didn't deserve her fate. Cool motive, still murder, and all that.

Apparently her name was Centeol, and she used to be a powerful, beautiful sorceress, but then she fell in love with this one wizard what was called Jon Irenicus. So, she came up with a plan to win his heart. But since the plan involved killing the crap out of the lady he was seeing at the time, it predictably ended up pissing him off instead. So, he sealed her magic and cursed her so she'd be really fat and not be able to move, and left her here where she'd have to rely on the spiders to take care of her. I would have probably felt more sorry for her if she hadn't, you know, straight up murdered someone. Still, that Irenicus guy sounds like a right terrifying wizard, and not the sort to be messed with. I sure hope I never cross paths with him.

Unfortunately, Xan's charm spell did not extend to the spiders. They listened to Centeol when she called them off, but only for a little while. After that, they just went after us again. And of course, fighting the spiders made Centeol mad, and she started attacking us too, though she weren't too good at it as she had no weapons and couldn't move any. It was a tough fight, but we managed to take out the spiders. We were going to spare Centeol's life, as she weren't no real threat and already had it tough, but when she saw her spider friends were dead, she pretty much begged us to kill her and put her out of her misery, as she'd die anyway without them to take care of her. Well, I felt right bad about attacking someone what was mostly helpless, but Kivan didn't hesitate. It only took one stab, and then...it's too horrible to describe, Mr. Journal.

Anyways, after that, we searched the area, and it was littered with treasure of all sorts. Probably from dead adventurers and all. I imagine the spiders wouldn't want to eat their gear. Loot doesn't taste all that good, after all. We also found several corpses, all wrapped in spider silk, and one of them had a sword on them what fit the description that Tiber fellow from before gave of his brother's sword. Kivan said that from the condition the body was in, he's been dead for several weeks. I know it's a horrible thought, Mr. Journal, but I was relieved to hear it. After all, that means it wasn't our fault, as he died before our first shot at the Cloakwood.

After that, we left the dome and headed for the river, where we found Tiber camped out right where he'd been before. We gave him the sword and told him what happened. The poor man was beside himself. I don't blame him. No one deserves to die such a spidery death. He gave the sword right back to us and insisted we keep it, said having it around was too painful. We moved on after that, Mr. Journal. It seemed the right thing to do, as he clearly needed his space.

We're stopped near the edge of the forest right now for lunch, but we'll be moving again soon. In a few more hours, we'll be out of here for good, and I will never have to set foot on this horrible, spidery ground again. And, in just one or two more days, we'll be back at the Friendly Arm with Branwen, Khalid, and Jaheira. Ooh, I can't wait, Mr. Journal!

* * *

A/N: And that's where we're stopping for now. Tune in next time, when the Cloakwood finally becomes a thing of the past! If you've got questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review! I thrive on your feedback! I eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! It sustains my existence! ...ShoujoOnmyouji, signing off.


	40. Chapter 40: The Road Ahead

A/N: Wow, Chapter 40 already! I can hardly believe it. I hope you're ready to get the Hells out of the Cloakwood, because we're getting the Hells out of the Cloakwood.

* * *

Day 92, Hour 12

Gods, Mr. Journal, but I'm exhausted. We've been traveling all through the night – were ambushed by ettercaps on the way out of the Cloakwood. I sodding hate ettercaps, Mr. Journal. They're like the ugly two-legged cousins of spiders, and you know how much I sodding hate spiders. Just as damn poisonous, too. Immy got poisoned right off the bat, and we had to use up our last antidote to save her. She nearly didn't drink it in time – the stuff was acting way faster than the spiders' poison had. I could see her veins turning black near where she'd been bitten, and it were real scary.

But then, one of them managed to sink its mandibles into Xan, and he got poisoned too. I ran over to him to use my poison-slowing powers as soon as I noticed, but I got there too late, Mr. Journal. The poison killed him before I could reach him. Gods, but I'm glad we were near out of the Cloakwood by then, with the Friendly Arm less than a day's walk away. If we'd still been any deeper in the woods, we might not have been able to make it in time to – Gods, I don't even want to think about it.

We just made it to the inn about an hour ago. It were raining something fierce as we passed through the front gates. We went straight to the temple in a right hurry to bring Xan back. I'm so relieved we made it in time. I must have apologized to him at least five times when he woke up. If I'd just gotten there a little quicker, then none of this would have happened. I, I could have saved him then, and I failed. I...don't think he heard any of it, though. He was right out of it and looked just about to fall over. Come to think of it, this is the third time he's died, isn't it? Can't even begin to imagine what that must be like. We had to get him up to a room so he could rest right away, with me near tripping over my own feet and saying sorry the whole damn way. I might have to tell him again once he's more coherent, Mr. Journal.

The rest of us went downstairs for lunch before going up to get a spot of rest ourselves. Khalid, Jaheira, and Branwen were already there, and they joined us for the meal, though they're going to hold off on discussing our strategy going forward until later when all of us aren't so sleep-deprived.

Oh, the Neera army were hanging around the common room today, too, though their numbers seem to be a lot smaller than before. I only counted five Neeras. I were a bit curious, so I found the real Neera and asked her what had happened. Apparently she and her clones tried to take on some super mega-dungeon near here what's called Durlag's Tower. Abandoned wizard tower, or somesuch. It's supposedly full of mounds of treasure. The place turned out to be a sodding deathtrap though, and they didn't get far at all before losing five whole Neeras. After that, the real Neera decided it were best to retreat and find somewhere else to adventure. She told me about all the cool stuff what she'd done without us before Durlag's Tower, too. It sounds like while we've been tromping through the spidery, spidery woods, the Neera army has been all up and down the Sword Coast. That must have been quite a sight.

Anyways, I'm up in my own room, now. I'm going to take a bit of a nap for a few hours. I don't want to outright sleep, because I've still got to fall asleep tonight, after all. Write you later, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 92, Hour 22

Evening, Mr. Journal. It's been an eventful few hours. After we'd all napped a bit, we went downstairs for a bite to eat. Even Xan showed up, though he were still a bit tired. Since everyone was there and mostly rested, we decided to strategize over dinner, and now we've got a game plan.

Khalid and Jaheira told us everything they'd found out while we were apart, the most important bit of information being that the gates to Baldur's Gate are currently closed. That means we can't go straight to the city to investigate the Iron Throne. Apparently, they've been closed for a while because of the rampant bandit activity, and even though we took out their main base, there have still been stragglers.

Jaheira says she and Khalid still have to do some checking up on things for their organization. She also says she'll see what she can find out about the city gates. She knows some people and might be able to pull some strings. For now, she thinks its best that we travel around and get more experience, do the whole "checking back every tenday" thing again for updates on the Baldur's Gate situation. Of course, I spoke up about that, Mr. Journal. She'd had us right worried last time, after all. She promised that they'd send a message to the Friendly Arm if they were delayed this time, though, so I guess it's okay.

Kivan is leaving us for now, says if we're not going directly after Tazok, then he'll find a way forward on his own. He's still going to try to come back every ten days to check in, but he warned us that he might not show up, because if he tracks down Tazok he's going straight after him. Branwen's decided to go with Kivan, as she thinks he may fare better with a cleric at his side, and she'd be honored to aid such a fine warrior. I was a bit surprised with how quickly Kivan accepted the offer, as I always took him for more of a loner, but I suppose it makes sense. The two of them are pretty good friends by now, after all. I'll miss having them around, Mr. Journal. Even Kivan and his angry, scowly face.

Xan says he may have to leave for a while soon, too, as he's got to report back to his superiors on the situation and doesn't exactly trust a courier to do the job. He's going to wait, though, until we have more information on how long the gates are going to be closed, as he's loath to abandon us right when things get serious and wants to make sure he could actually make it back in time to help us out. He says the journey to Evereska is six or seven days on a good horse, so he'd need at least a tenday and a half. If we don't have that much time, then he'll send a courier, as much as he dislikes the idea. Is it bad that I hope he does have to send one, Mr. Journal? I really like having him around, and I'm right worried if he goes off on his own he might find himself in another situation like Nashkel. I mean, what if he never makes it back? He's not much helping these worries, either – when I told him about it, he said it was a distinct possibility and would likely come to pass, but he had a duty to uphold even if he was doomed to fail. At least he's for sure staying with us for the first tenday, Mr. Journal.

After dinner, me and Xan went to work identifying the rest of the stuff what we'd found in the Cloakwood. Xan's managed to identify most of the scrolls. He found two that were cursed – one with stupidity and one with weakness. You should've seen how quickly he crumpled them up and threw them across the room when he realized what they were. Must have brought back some bad memories from that time he accidentally triggered one of those.

The sword that Tiber made us keep is actually something I recognize from stories – Spider's Bane. Like its name suggests, it's really good at killing giant spiders. Of course we'd find something like that on our way _out_ of the spidery, spidery woods. Nonetheless, it's still a comforting thing to have around. Of the jewelry we'd found strewn about Centeol's dome, only one piece was enchanted, and it was cursed something nasty. It makes its wearer a complete gibbering idiot, and won't come off once it's put on. We dodged a bullet with that one, for sure. Aside from that, there was also a wand of frost, an enchanted katana, and a few other things.

We're going to split up most of the stuff tomorrow, though Xan's taken one of the Traveler's Robes we found for himself tonight. The magic robe he'd been wearing was all but ruined in a fight with some spiders two days ago and he's been wearing his spare, non-magic robe since. I'm going to give the second one to Neera before we leave tomorrow, as none of us can use it, and it seems she's been adventuring in some pretty dangerous places as of late.

Xan and I have split the scrolls we found between us. One of them is a scroll for a Horror spell, and I'm right excited to learn it. I've seen what Xan can do with that spell, and it'd be so cool to be able to cast it myself. Xan says he'll help me practice tomorrow morning before we leave. Also, he doesn't seem all that upset with me about the whole poison thing. Says it wasn't really my fault, I did what I could, and he was just doomed, that's all. Honestly, I kind of wish he'd been more upset with me about it. Times like this, his fatalism can be a bit upsetting.

Anyways, Mr. Journal, it's getting late, and I'd best get some sleep so I'm fresh for the road tomorrow, and also for _***~magic lessons~***_! Good night!

* * *

Day 93, Hour 8

Good morning, Mr. Journal! With Xan's help, I am now at least 200% more awesome at magic. I can cast a Horror spell now, and even fling acid arrows! Oh, joyful day!

Anyways, we're down having breakfast in the common room now, getting ready to head out. Immy thinks we should walk the road to Baldur's Gate and get the lay of the land. Just because we can't get into the city proper doesn't mean we can't prepare ourselves. Hells, we may even find another way in, for all I know! Neera overheard our conversation and told us there was a village just a bit further north along that road, and it might be a good idea to go up that way, as the road runs right along the river the whole way, and you can see Baldur's Gate on the other side. She's been right helpful ever since I gave her that robe a couple hours ago. Heck, I think she may have even forgiven us for leaving her here at the Friendly Arm, because she's talking with us like we're all friends again. Still won't tell us the secret to that sodding "Triangle Game," though. Challenged us to play a few rounds over breakfast. Xan's the only one who seems to have figured it out, but he won't tell me, neither.

Anyways, I think Neera's idea is a right good one, and we're going to follow it – head off down the road to Baldur's Gate, _and_ have a clear destination at the end of it! It should be quite an adventure! Jaheira approves of the plan, too, which is nice to know, as she's so much more experienced than I am. She and Khalid are eating breakfast with us before they head out – We're all going to leave together and part ways at the fork in the road a little ways out from the Friendly Arm. Branwen and Kivan, on the other hand, had already left before I even woke up. Didn't even get a chance to see them off. I don't know how either of them manages to get up so early.

We're finishing up right about now, so we should be on the road soon. Are you excited, Mr. Journal? I'm excited.

* * *

A/N: And with that, our party splits into three separate groups! Never thought it would really make sense for some members to leave outright, but it also wouldn't make sense to refuse certain potential allies. The result is this juggling act. Also, I just always thought it was weird that the city gates to Baldur's Gate always opened RIGHT when you finished in the Cloakwood. Like yeah, I get the timing is pretty okay, they wouldn't open up again right after the bandit camp so it makes sense for them to open a little later, but RIGHT when you get out of the Cloakwood? Seems way too convenient. So, I decided to pretend they were still closed and go off to do some other stuff. I mean, between straggler bandits and the slow-turning wheels of bureaucracy, I imagine it could take a while for the city to open its gates again. And the best part is, we're not really to a point yet where stuff is urgent and time is absolutely of the essence. After all, whether we go after them right away or not, the Iron Throne can't make their big move until tensions with Amn have reached a fever pitch, because it won't work any other way. Besides, I've got to find places to put in the sidequests where I can since I'm going for as close to complete as possible, and this seemed like a natural place to do it. Let me know what you think of this decision. I'm all ears. Oh, and I almost forgot! Ahem. Tune in next time as our heroes take to the road and scout out the Baldur's Gate outskirts! Toodles!


	41. Chapter 41: Big Bug Hunting

A/N: Sorry for the wait! Soon after uploading the last chapter, I got a call asking me to come in for an interview out of town for my dream job! Needless to say, I dropped everything for a week and a half to prepare for it. Didn't get back in town from the interview until nearly midnight on Thursday last week. And then, the next day, Hurricane Harvey hit and it was like Storm Central over here for four or five days. But, the waters have receded, the power is on, I have food in my fridge again, and I am free to turn my attention to other matters, such as this. Hopefully, Chapter 42 will not take near as long to get out.

* * *

Day 93, Hour 19

Gods, but a lot has happened today, Mr. Journal. We made a new trigger-happy paladin friend, fought lots of big scary ankhegs, and got yelled at by a little kid. We're still about a day's walk from Ulgoth's Beard – turns out that's what that little town to the north of Baldur's Gate is called – but we're making pretty good time. Would have made better time if it weren't for those damn ankhegs, though. Fate just always has to throw giant bugs at us, doesn't it?

Anyways, let's take this from the top, Mr. Journal. Before leaving the Friendly Arm Inn, we still had a few stops what we had to make. Khalid and Jaheira went to say goodbye to Gellana over at the temple, while the rest of us went inside to do some business with old Bentley. He took that cursed sword what we got from Brage off our hands, and promised not to let it fall into the wrong hands. What did I tell you, Mr. Journal? I knew we could trust Bentley with this.

After restocking our ammo and selling off a few extra scrolls, we sat down to divvy up the loot we'd got from Cloakwood while we waited for Khalid and Jaheira to get back. The magic katana we found went to Rasaad – apparently, he's had some training with katanas, and I imagine it will work a sight better for him than his fists, furious though they are. We had Yeslick hold on to the spider-slaying sword until later, as no one traveling with us could really use it. I would have let Kivan take it as he's headed off into the woods, but nooooo. He just had to leave before the rest of us woke up. His loss, Mr. Journal. I kept the frost wand for myself, and Immy's holding on to all the extra potions, as she's the one carrying our potion bag.

We left sometime in the mid-morning. The fork in the path came all too quick, and we had to say goodbye to Khalid and Jaheira. Gods, but I hope this time they don't disappear for several tendays on end. After that, we headed up the north fork, into unfamiliar lands. At least to me, anyway. Pretty soon, the wilderness gave way to rolling farmlands, and on the horizon, across water that seemed to go on near forever, were a great city rising up against the sky. Baldur's Gate.

So, there we were, walking down the road, enjoying the nice sunny day, when some guy in real fancy armor – looked to be around my age, early twenties or somesuch – came right up to us shouting at us to halt and demanding we tell him if we were friend or foe. And let me tell you, Mr. Journal, he was putting on quite a face at us. I think he was trying to be intimidating. It wasn't working. I made a face right back at him and said that all depended on who the Hells he was, because if he was with the Iron Throne, he could bite it.

He wasn't with the Iron Throne. In fact, it turns out he's some paladin-in-training from Waterdeep what came down here to prove his honor and valor and all that paladin stuff by stopping the recent bandit raids. He was certainly a sight friendlier once he found out we'd hunted down a fair number of bandits ourselves and were planning on going after the ones behind all of this mess. He even properly introduced himself after that. Says his name's Ajantis Ilvastarr, and he's a squire in the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart, whatever that is.

Long story short, he ended up inviting himself into our party, as anyone who fights evil is an ally of his. I wasn't like to complain, as having a shiny defender of good and justice with us couldn't be a bad thing. I mean, paladins are one of the first things a girl thinks of when she hears "hero." Just like in the stories! Unfortunately, he didn't know a way to get into Baldur's Gate either, so our "patrol the road" plan didn't change any. Despite that, he still seemed pretty confident we'd find a way to do some good.

It weren't long before the road proved him right. Around noon, we were approached by a real desperate farmer, name of Brun. Said strange things had been happening on his farm of late – holes in his fields, destroyed crops, cows disappearing and whatnot – and just yesterday his son went off to investigate with some friends and never came back. He practically begged us for our help, saying he feared the worst had happened. Ajantis was there assuring the man we'd find his son and solve the mystery of the disappearing cows before I could even open my mouth to speak. He sure doesn't waste any time when it comes to heroism, Mr. Journal, though I do wish he'd ask before volunteering us all for the job. I mean, I would have said yes anyway, but it's more the principle of the thing. A better choice for peace and quiet too – he and Xan ended up having a heated argument over it as soon as Brun were out of earshot and they pretty much just _sulked_ at each other after that until we found our first clue.

We were right near the edge of one of the fields when we saw some sets of footprints heading off to the west, and decided to investigate, by which I mean Ajantis bounded off in that direction in search of the missing folk and the rest of us had to struggle to keep up. For a man in big clanky armor, he sure does run fast. He didn't get far, though, before all that noise he were making attracted some unwanted attention. This big old ankheg burst right up from the ground in front of him, stopping him in his tracks just as we were catching up.

I got my BOSSHAMMER out and joined the front lines right quick, and Rasaad and Yeslick were right behind me. Pretty soon, the three of us were getting right up in that ankheg's face right alongside Ajantis, with Xan and Immy supporting us from a distance. Everything went pretty well until Ajantis leapt up and went in for a crushing overhead blow, leaving himself wide open like a sodding idiot. The ankheg reared back and got ready to strike him, and probably would have got him but good if Rasaad hadn't acted real quick to intercept the blow. The force of the attack knocked the katana right out of his hand and did a real number on his arm. At least we were all crowding it in way too much to give it room to get us with its acid spit. Still had a pretty nasty bite though, and after that first big hit, Rasaad took the brunt of the blows as he'd taken point in the formation. At least he is really good at punching things, Mr. Journal. If it had been anyone else who got disarmed, they would have been near defenseless. Still, by the time the ankheg went down, Rasaad was pretty badly hurt, and Yeslick had to use up most of his healing spells to patch him up.

After the fight, Xan went off on Ajantis with one of his patented Xan Lectures – you know, a laundry list of ways that our new friend's reckless actions could have gotten us all killed, that sort of thing. Ajantis got all defensive about it, something about Xan having a problem with his honorable heroism and do-gooding and whatnot, but I stepped in before anything escalated. I told him that no one here was against finding and rescuing the farmer's son and his friends, but _maybe_ we would be able to do the whole hero thing better if we worked as a team instead of _someone_ rushing off alone without us and getting himself attacked. Yeslick backed me up, too – told a story from his adventuring days off in Sembia before he got mixed up with Rieltar, tale about this one time a warrior he was traveling with broke formation and charged ahead, giving the enemy an opening. The group he'd been with at the time ended up having to retreat. Anyways, it seemed to placate Ajantis, who then insisted we continue on our quest like nothing had happened.

We followed the footprints for a couple hours until they led us to a big hole in the ground what had a bunch of creepy clicking noises coming out of it. Like, it was obviously the entrance to an ankheg nest. There wasn't any doubt. Ajantis, clearly remembering what we'd told him earlier, turned to us and loudly announced that we had to go down there, instead of, you know, just charging blindly in without a word. It were a small improvement, I guess. Xan, predictably, was against it. Said going down into an ankheg nest was pretty much the same as _asking_ for death. I had a bad feeling about it too, but that _is_ where the footsteps led us, Mr. Journal. It was pretty obvious Brun's son had gone down there into that dangerous place, and a good bet the ankhegs were the ones what were causing the problems down on the farm. Wouldn't be surprised if the nest ran all the way under the field. So, I had to agree with Ajantis on that one. Weren't no getting around it.

So, with much apprehension, and some bravado on Ajantis's part, we descended into the ankheg nest. Inside it was a maze of dark twisty tunnels going in all directions, with walls of tightly-packed dirt and rocks. I admit, Mr. Journal, I was a bit surprised that the tunnels were big enough to walk in all comfortable-like, but I suppose I shouldn't have been, considering how sodding huge ankhegs can get.

Of course, it weren't long before the ankhegs showed up to attack us. We were invading their home after all. Ajantis managed to slay the first few that came after us and buy time for us to retreat into one of the side tunnels what looked like it hadn't been used in a while. Ajantis is a complete badass, Mr. Journal, I'll say that much for him. Sure, he's even greener than I am when it comes to swinging that sword of his around, but he's got more than enough guts to make up for it. Seriously, that man has got balls of steel.

Xan sent the next group of ankhegs what attacked us scurrying in the other direction with a well-timed Horror spell. Ajantis wanted to go after them, make sure they wouldn't be able to cause the farmer any more trouble, but I reminded him our first priority was to find Brun's son. After all, there were going to be far too many ankhegs in this nest for us to defeat on our own, and if we went in too deep, we'd be in for some sodding trouble.

We lost the trail after the next couple bends and found ourselves in a whole lot of dead ends before finding our way back on the right path. We got ambushed at the last dead end, ankheg popped up right behind us and hurled itself straight at Xan, but he leapt out of the way just in time and then cut it clean in half with his Moonblade. Sometimes I forget he's actually damn good with a sword, Mr. Journal.

Anyways, a ton of dead ends, acid spit, and healing potions later, we saw something gleaming off to the side ahead. When we got closer, there were two big hidey holes dug out into the wall, both stinking of rot. The first had two half-eaten cow carcasses in it, and it were all I could do not to gag. The second was full of treasure – lots of gold and other trinkets, no doubt brought here by the ankhegs. But at the very back, crumpled over a pile of gold, was a real badly maimed corpse what fit the description Brun gave us of his son. I will admit I threw up, Mr. Journal. I just...threw up. It were too much to look at, and then, combine that with the smell and – Gods, Mr. Journal. I'm so sodding tired of seeing death, especially when it's one what we couldn't do anything to stop. One day, I'm going to become the strongest adventurer ever, and I am going to protect folks and save so many people, and then maybe there won't be near as much death. Yep, that is what I am going to do, Mr. Journal.

After that, we had to get out of there and tell Brun the bad news. He took it just about as hard as expected, which is to say he was crushed. What's worse, he says he can't even run the farm without his son's help, as he's getting too old! I do hope he'll be all right, Mr. Journal. I only wish there were more we could have done. But, there weren't. Gods, but I felt so damn helpless then.

Still, there weren't much more we could do there, so we had no choice but to move on. We kept moving north across the road, and were attacked by even more ankhegs around the way. Gods, Mr. Journal, they were everywhere! I know I've already said this before back in the Cloakwood, but thank the Gods for Immy's Wand of Sleep. Saved our arses more than once on that road. Oh, and get this – we ran into this one lady what told us it was ankheg mating season, and there were a call to cull their numbers a bit – four per party, and catch and release after that, as they apparently aerate the soil and it's good to still have some around. I think we'd gone far over that limit long ago, Mr. Journal, though I were a bit scared to tell her so. Still, that explains why they'd been attacking folks so aggressively.

I was damn glad to get past the area of the road what was ankheg territory. If I ever see another ankheg in my life, it'll be too soon. Was about mid afternoon when we made it to the bridge what led to the main entrance to Baldur's Gate. Never seen anything so grand in my life, Mr. Journal. Just like Khalid and Jaheira had said, though, the gates were closed, and there was no getting in, so we just kept on going north. Around then Ajantis asked if we had any destination in mind or if we were just patrolling the roads for bandit stragglers, so I told him we were headed up to this small town north of here what a friend had told us about. Well, it turns out he's heard of the place, and that he passed through there on his way south. Says it's called Ulgoth's Beard, and it's a fishing village what's become somewhat of a hub for adventurers. I can't wait to see it, Mr. Journal. We still have quite a ways to go, though.

Anyways, pretty soon after we'd passed the bridge, we saw this little house by the waterside. Didn't really stand out that much. In fact, we probably would've passed it without me even remembering it if it weren't for what happened next. Once we got a bit closer to the house, this little girl ran out and started screaming at us. Something about fishermen and staying the Hells away from her house lest she rain the Bitch Queen's wrath down upon us. Seemed to think we were working for said fishermen, whoever they were. Well, I sure as Hells wasn't about to pick a fight with some little kid, Mr. Journal. That would be right messed up.

We're a bit farther north of there now, far enough that the kid probably isn't going to bother us, and we've set up camp for the night. Immy's been sorting through the loot what we found in the ankheg nest, and she's got me and Xan on standby for when she needs help identifying things. Ajantis is out patrolling the area for evildoers what might attack us in our sleep, by which I mean he's gathering firewood. Yeslick's going to make dinner for us once Ajantis gets back.

It's only now starting to get dark, but as Ulgoth's Beard is still a day away from here and the road turns into little more than a path up ahead, it makes no sense to go on tonight. Best to start the next leg of our journey fresh tomorrow morning. I can see Baldur's Gate across the water right now, Mr. Journal. Makes for a real nice view. I think I'm going to sleep well tonight.

* * *

A/N: And we'll stop there for now because that was one hell of a long journal entry. I hope I'm portraying Ajantis all right. This is the first time in a while I've had him on my party for even a little while. But like he definitely strikes me as inexperienced, naive, a bit rigid, and prone to rushing into things without thinking them through first. Anyways, tune in next time as our heroes see what's up in Ulgoth's Beard! And of course, if you've got any questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review! I thrive upon your feedback! ShoujoOnmyouji, out!


	42. Chapter 42: Into the Deep Freeze

A/N: As promised, here is chapter 42, without nearly as much of a delay as last time! Enjoy!

* * *

Day 94, Hour 6

Good morning, Mr. Journal. We've all been up since the wee hours, but we've been waiting for it to get lighter out before we set off for Ulgoth's Beard. Of course, we might not have gotten up at all, if not for Ajantis. Oh, I know what you're thinking, Mr. Journal. You're thinking that I can't just say that and not tell you what happened. Well, you are absolutely right, my friend.

So, it were the wee hours, still dark out, and you could still hear all the nighttime bugs, when Ajantis literally shook us all awake. Immy asked him all groggy-like just what he thought he was doing, and he said that he felt the area had a strong sense of evil about it, and that we needed to be awake and on our guard. Let me tell you, Mr. Journal, you could have probably heard Immy's groan from a mile away after that. She's never done well with waking up early, you know. Sleeps like a rock and never gets up before sunrise if she can help it. Honestly, I'm surprised Ajantis even managed to wake her.

So anyways, Immy was protesting about being awake so early and Xan was gearing up to go off on Ajantis again with more Xan Lectures when there were a great rumbling what came from the earth, cutting him off mid-sentence. The next thing we knew, this huge ankheg burst out of the ground right in the middle of our campsite! We were able to chase it off without anyone getting hurt or anything, but we'd have been done for were it not for Ajantis. Good to know he can apparently sense both evil and ankhegs. Could still use a little practice distinguishing the two, though.

Now, we're having a bite to eat and waiting for it to get a bit more light out here. Xan has grudgingly apologized to Ajantis for trying to scold him earlier and is now fully immersed in his spellbook over on the edge of camp. Oh, and I almost forgot, just before breakfast we divvied up the loot from the ankheg nest what Immy, Xan, and me identified last night. Aside from scrolls and potions, there were a load of magic darts what we split between us, some shiny new armor what none of us could use, an enchanted dagger for Immy, and an awesome fire wand what we gave to Xan.

I've got a scroll for a new spell now, something what's called Ghost Armor, though I reckon it will take me a while to learn it. I'd ask Xan for help but this time we found a scroll for a new spell what was a challenge even for him, which is probably why he's over there studying so hard. I guess I'll just do what I can on my own for the next few days and ask him for help later if I still need it.

We're going to be getting ready to head out soon, Mr. Journal. By this time tomorrow, we'll be in Ulgoth's Beard. How exciting is that?

* * *

Day 94, Hour 22

Evening, Mr. Journal. Guess where we are?

If you guessed Ulgoth's Beard, that is totally right. We haven't seen much of the town, as it were dark by the time we got here and we were all so damn tired all we wanted to do was find an inn, get some dinner, and then go to bed. Looked like a sleepy little village from what we did see, though.

Our journey here was pretty uneventful. Ajantis took the lead as we pushed forward north along the water's edge, as he'd passed this way before. The going was a bit tougher than before, as there were no actual road to follow, but at least nothing tried to kill us. It were a real nice day, too. All sunny and whatnot. Baldur's Gate never once went out of sight. It's been there on the horizon all the way north. Probably would have even been able to see it when we got to Ulgoth's Beard, too, had it not been so dark.

The Ulgoth's Beard Inn was real full up with adventurers, way more than you'd expect from such a little town. Ajantis wasn't kidding when he called this place an adventuring hub. If the chatter in the common room is anything to go by, a lot of the folk here are getting ready to explore that Durlag's Tower place what took out half the Neera Army. There must be one hell of a treasure in there to attract so many adventuring parties. Speaking of chatter, we heard one very unsettling rumor from the barkeep during dinner – apparently one of the Dukes of Baldur's Gate has spoken up blaming Amn for the iron shortage. This isn't good, Mr. Journal. Even if it's just an offhand comment on record from one Duke now, if this thing gets blown up any bigger the Iron Throne may just get that war they've been manufacturing all this time. Gods, but I hope it'll be a while yet before things come to that.

Anyways, Mr. Journal, I'm dead tired, so I think I'll be turning in for now. Good night.

* * *

Day 95, Hour 7

Good morning, Mr. Journal! It is another fine day here on the Sword Coast! I can see bits of Ulgoth's Beard out the windows of the inn now that it's light out, and gods, but it is _beautiful_! Little cottages, and so much green! I can't wait to get outside and see the waterfront!

Everyone's having breakfast up at the bar right now, and it's real lively in here. There's a group of adventurers setting off for Durlag's Tower right now, and their excitement is damn contagious. In particular, this one girl in these light tan leathers what've clearly not been broken in yet is damn near bouncing off the walls and telling anyone who will listen about how she's going on her very first adventure. I sure do hope she'll be all right, Mr. Journal. To hear Neera tell it, that Durlag's Tower place sounds like a right deathtrap, it does. It would be a crying shame for anyone's first adventure to be their last.

But enough about that. We've got an adventure of our own to think about – exploring the town! Ooh, I can't wait, Mr. Journal!

* * *

Day 95, Hour 9

I don't mean to sound like Xan, Mr. Journal, but I think we might be doomed. At the very least, we are very, very far from Ulgoth's Beard, and I am not sure if there is a way back. Specifically, we are on an island. A rock, really. A very small rock. A very small rock covered in ice and also a polar bear what tried to kill us. I can't see land in any direction, just ocean and ice floes far as the eye can see. And it is so, so cold, Mr. Journal. My hands are shaking and it's damn hard to write. But write I must, because how else would you find out how we ended up on this tiny, icy rock?

If someone had told me two hours ago that I would soon be on a tiny, icy rock, I would have laughed in their face. After all, the very thought is absurd. But, here we are, on a tiny, icy rock, and it is all the fault of a mage named Shandalar.

We met Shandalar around an hour ago while we were walking around town. I was really enjoying myself, as the town was right pretty, and the people were super friendly. Also, I got to walk right next to Rasaad, and he was in a good mood, so he was totally smiling, and it was absolutely radiant, so I was also totally smiling, and I forgot where I was going with this, but anyway! Everything was great! I'd seen a lighthouse out by the water's edge, and convinced the others to go have a look at it. But, on our way there, Shandalar approached us, said he had need of us and wanted us to do a simple task. Said he'd pay us well. I was interested and asked for more information. Turns out he wanted us to fetch him his cloak, which he had left in an "indeterminate" location. That should have been my first warning, and I should have listened to Xan when he said he had a bad feeling about this, but I didn't. Ajantis and Immy were both real gung-ho about helping this fellow as he'd come to us in his time of need and helping people is what good folk do. So, like an idiot, I just confirmed with the guy that we would, in fact, be returning to Ulgoth's Beard after our errand, and when he said yes, I agreed.

So, this Shandalar guy shoved some sort of talisman into my hand and started casting some sort of spell, and then the next moment, here we were, on this tiny, icy rock. Well, Xan just about went ballistic. You should have seen him, Mr. Journal, carrying on with this big, overblown "I told you so" rant until he was blue in the face. And I don't mean that slight bluish tint he's always got, especially around his ears. Far as I know, that's a normal moon elf thing. No, he was straight up blue in the face.

It turns out, though, that we were not alone, and all the noise Xan were making attracted some unwanted attention. By which I mean a sodding huge polar bear lumbered out from behind a tall ridge and charged at us. I've seen drawings of polar bears in books, Mr. Journal, but I never thought I'd see a real one, and let me tell you, they are far more terrifying than the non-polar kind of bears. All snow-white fur and big fangs, and something unnatural cruel in their eyes. Though I don't know, maybe that was just this polar bear and all the others are considerably more cuddly. I doubt it, though. Rasaad was able to protect the rest of us from it and defeat it without sustaining too many injuries, though, so I suppose it could have gone far worse.

So that's it. Here we are, on this tiny, icy rock. Xan's a bit quieter now, as he doesn't want to alert any more hostiles if they're around, but he's still very much upset. I don't blame him. I was an idiot and we ended up on a desolate rock in the middle of nowhere because of it. He has every right. We've all agreed, though, that for now, we need to put that aside and focus on, you know, trying to survive. Immy and Rasaad are out surveying the area, as the rock may be small, but it's still big enough that we can't see every nook and cranny of the place from where we are. Yeslick's been praying for some spells what might be able to help us here. I've managed to convince Xan to help me examine this talisman what Shandalar gave me before we left, in the hopes it might be the key to getting us out of here. He's taking a look at it right now, though he hasn't stopped grumbling for a second.

...I just heard Immy shouting, Mr. Journal. I think she's found something. I'm going to go check it out. I'll write you later.

* * *

A/N: And that's where we're stopping for today! Tune in next time as our heroes try to find a way off of this tiny, icy rock. If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review! I thrive on your feedback! Toodles~!


	43. Chapter 43: Fire and Ice

A/N: Aaand I'm back! Sorry for the delay, I kind of lost a week due to some post-storm complications. Won't bore you with the particulars. But here we are. Still on this tiny, icy rock. Let's do this.

* * *

Day 95, Hour 11

Hello again, Mr. Journal. The good news is Immy found a cave entrance leading underground into some sort of maze, so we're out of the wind and cold. The bad news is we are still technically on this tiny, icy rock. Oh, and we ran into some crazy wizards what tried to murdelize us. That, too. We only barely managed to make it out of that one alive, and now we're holed up like rabbits in a tiny dead end in this gods-forsaken labyrinth, licking our wounds. That might take a while, so I may as well get you up to date while we rest.

So, about two hours ago, Immy called the rest of us over to the other side of the tiny, icy rock we'd found ourselves stranded on. It turned out she'd found a cave, or so we thought. Once we ducked inside to shelter ourselves from the wind, it became very clear the place was manmade -The floors were tiled in detailed patterns and the walls were intricately carved out of the ice. We didn't have much time to admire the craftsmanship of the place though, as we were attacked by a pack of huge white wolves what spewed ice from their mouths soon as we went down there.

Luckily, Rasaad and Ajantis made short work of them before they could cause any real damage. A good thing, that, as I don't think I could handle another one of those ice blasts – one was uncomfortable enough. Ajantis recognized the beasts, said they were called winter wolves, and that they were fairly common up on the more northerly parts of the Sword Coast. Remind me never to go as far north as Waterdeep, Mr. Journal. Seriously. If I ever start talking about going to Waterdeep, stop me. And Luskan? Gods, forget about it.

Anyways, after that, we had Immy scout a bit further up the halls. Didn't want to run into any more of them winter wolves unprepared, after all. She didn't find winter wolves, though. She found people. Came back and told us about them, several folks camped up in a room at the end of a bunch of twisty passages. Looked to be wizards, what with the robes they were wearing. After a short bit of discussion, we decided to go and introduce ourselves to them – after all, I figured it were likely we weren't the only ones what had ended up trapped on this tiny, icy rock, and maybe they might could be potential allies.

They weren't.

Oh sure, our conversation started out friendly enough. Their leader – man what called himself Andris – greeted us all nice and cheerful-like, asked us to tell him our story, and he'd tell us his in return. We talked for a while, told him all about Shandalar and whatnot. His story was a sight different than ours – he'd tried to teleport across a long distance and ended up here instead. Apparently this place is full of a powerful magic what diverts teleportation spells and drops folks here, and a lot of powerful wizards have gotten trapped here in the middle of sodding nowhere. Andris told us the folks here carved out these tunnels for shelter, lived off of seabird eggs, and that most of them had gone mad from being stuck here so long.

It weren't long before it became obvious Andris was pretty sodding mad himself – after we'd talked a while, he told us he had a plan for getting out of here. He seemed to think that if he gathered a lot of magic power in one place, he could use it to overpower whatever was keeping everyone here. Unfortunately for us, he wanted to gather that power by killing us, stealing our magical items, and siphoning out whatever magic was left in our lifeless corpses.

He and his buddies all started casting at once, and the next thing we knew, Immy was running away scared and Andris was up to his arse in magical defenses. Yeslick ran after Immy to cast a Remove Fear spell while I countered with a Horror spell of my own. Managed to send Andris running away screaming, but the other two kept coming at us with this nonstop barrage of spells. Xan darted out to lure one of them into melee range, but got himself hit by an acid arrow in the process. He did manage to get one of them to come close enough for Rasaad and Ajantis to surround him and start wailing on him, though. The other guy summoned some ghouls to try to take some pressure off his friend, but Xan and I rushed in to fend them off – Xan with Flame Arrows and me with my BOSSHAMMER. We were starting to get pretty battered, but Immy and Yeslick jumped back in just in time! It were a tough fight, but we managed to take out the two wizards before they did us in.

There were barely any time to rest though, as right around that time, Andris rushed back in from one of the side passages. I can't believe how fast he shook my fear spell off, Mr. Journal! Before we could even react, he sent a spell flying towards Rasaad, and the next thing we knew, Rasaad was kicking the crap out of Ajantis! Xan said something about it being a powerful enchantment spell before leveling his Wand of Fireballs straight at Andris. Did some decent damage, but Andris just shot back a fireball of his own and really wrecked our shite. Yeslick and Ajantis charged straight at him, with Rasaad still on their heels, and I snuck around behind him and cast Aganazzar's Scorcher right at him!

The second it hit him, though, he blinked out of sight and reappeared right behind Xan. Next thing I knew, my scorcher wheeled around to Andris's new position, without me even doing anything, and it blasted Xan so hard he went flying. Gods, Mr. Journal, it was terrible. For a second, I feared the worst, but then he stood back up, real badly burned and all, and went straight at Andris with his Moonblade drawn. The little bugger blinked out of sight again before Xan could hit him, though.

For the next minute or so, Andris was just teleporting around madly, throwing acid arrows at us from every direction, and none of our weapons could even hit him. It were starting to look hopeless until he blinked back into existence right in front of Xan, who took his chance and ran Andris straight through with his Moonblade. Not a moment too soon, either, as Xan went and collapsed on the ground unconscious right after striking the final blow.

After that, we looked for some secluded hallway to rest, as we were all badly injured, and Xan was near at death's door, thanks to me. That's how we ended up here. Yeslick has his hands full trying to heal us up, and Ajantis is keeping watch a couple yards up the path, as he's currently the least injured out of all of us.

Gods, Mr. Journal, but I don't know what I should say to Xan. If I'd been more careful with my spells, he wouldn't have been this badly hurt. I didn't even know Aganazzar's Scorcher could _do_ that! Reorient itself suddenly, I mean. I know that it follows the target, but I never thought – Gods, Mr. Journal. What if he had died? What if I'd _killed_ him? I don't think I could live with myself.

Hells, I'm not even sure if I can live with myself _now_.

* * *

Day 96, Hour ?

We've been stopped here for what seems like damn near a whole day, and it's really starting to sink in that we may be stuck here. Gods, Mr. Journal, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life on some icy rock eating bird eggs and fighting off half-mad wizards. I mean, if even super powerful wizards can't find a way out of here, what chance do we have? I haven't shared my doubts with anyone, and I'm not sure if I will, as morale is already low enough as it is. Besides, telling everyone how doomed we are is Xan's job, and by now he's clearly feeling well enough to keep doing it all proper-like. We'd probably all be listening to him go on even now if he hadn't gone off several hours ago to prepare his spells. A relief, that. Him being okay, I mean. Not him shutting up, though I guess that were a relief, too. Still, I was damn worried, especially since it were my sodding fault he got hurt so bad.

So, yesterday, right. After I wrote, not much of note happened. Yeslick spent a while healing folks, and by dinnertime, just about everyone but Xan was good as new. Xan weren't in any real danger at that point, and it looked like most of his burns were gone, which were a relief, but Yeslick hadn't been able to fix him completely. It was still real obvious he was hurting. I went over to talk to him once Yeslick had gone off to prepare more spells. You know, to apologize.

Xan didn't seem to think it was really my fault, and that this wizard had just taken advantage of one of the properties of the spell in a way I couldn't have foreseen. But Gods, Mr. Journal, I should have been able to foresee that. I mean, the guy was appearing and disappearing all over the place, should've clicked that if he teleported, that sodding scorcher would follow him sure as it would've if he'd walked over there. You know, sometimes I wish Xan would get a bit more angry with me when I mess up and put folks in danger, instead of being so damn understanding about it and acting like all these bad things that happen are just inevitable and whatnot, you know, because we're doomed and all. It's not fate if I could have prevented it by being less of a sodding idiot, Mr. Journal.

So, I tried to get across all this frustration to Xan, and he just told me that yeah, this could've been prevented if I'd known better, but I didn't, and now, I did. If it happens again, then it will absolutely be my fault, but apparently, I can't be blamed for not knowing the spell would work that way, as I'd never encountered that weird teleportation thing before. He told me that if I want, he can try to teach me more about the individual properties and pitfalls of some of my spells if we manage to find a safer place to stop later, so I'll know a bit better about what to look out for when I fight magic with magic in the future. Though, he also warned me to expect very little, as magic is an art that takes a very long time to master, and even he still has a lot to learn. You know, the usual disclaimer. I think I'll take him up on that offer if we ever find a way out of this mess, Mr. Journal.

Even if he couldn't give me a full lesson right there, he did explain a bit more about that teleportation spell to me over dinner. Well, if you can call half a portion of way rations dinner, anyway – we have to conserve our supplies, as we've no idea how long we'll be here. Anyway, the spell's called Dimension Door, and it's apparently a real difficult spell what even Xan's got nowhere near enough skill with magic to cast. According to Xan, all that teleporting around wasn't so much teleporting as it was Andris stepping into the Ethereal Plane and then stepping back out in another spot nearby, and the reason my Scorcher immediately switched to his new position instead of just following him slowly was that the spell couldn't track him while he was on another plane of existence or somesuch. I have no idea how all that weird, complicated planar travel stuff works, so I'll just have to take Xan's word for it.

After dinner, Rasaad took up watch duty in Ajantis's place so he could get some rest, and the rest of us ended up turning in for the night pretty soon after. It were a bit hard to fall asleep in this maze, as it's so damn cold in here, but eventually, I drifted off. When I woke up, everyone else was already awake, except for Rasaad, who'd been keeping watch while the rest of us slept. Apparently, he hadn't been able to wake Immy up for her watch and had just kept going. Immy told me right sheepishly that by the time he'd managed to get her out of her bedroll, he'd already been keeping watch around three hours longer than he should've.

While me and Immy chatted for a bit, Xan was loudly informing the rest of us that we were obviously doomed to spend the rest of our short, miserable lives on this rock. As this typically just means something along the lines of "good morning" in Xan-speak, most of us weren't really paying him much mind. Well, except Yeslick. Poor guy was having a heck of a time trying to heal the rest of Xan's injuries, and had to keep telling him to stay still and stop gesturing with his arms long enough for treatment.

Eventually, though, Yeslick managed to get the healing done, and Xan shut up and went off to prepare his spells. Terrible as it may be to say so, it was right amusing to watch. Since then, me and Immy have been talking, though she went off a few minutes ago to get some breakfast ready for us. She thinks she might be able to go back up to the surface and find some of those seabird eggs Andris mentioned, as the entrance isn't too far from here and we've mostly secured this area. Wouldn't that be nice, Mr. Journal?

After she left, I really didn't have much to do but write. Xan and Yeslick are both preparing spells, Rasaad's still asleep, and Ajantis has been damn sodding restless all morning. He's been pacing around on the edge of our campsite, hand on his sword, muttering to himself. I tried to strike up a conversation, but he told me that evil was afoot and he had to stay ever vigilant. I swear, that boy is going to run himself ragged if he doesn't learn how to take it easy once in a while. Even I weren't near this starved for action back a few months ago when Immy and I were still green.

I imagine we'll be here for a while yet, at least until Rasaad wakes up. Gods, Mr. Journal, but I wish it weren't so sodding cold.

* * *

A/N: And we're stopping here. This was actually the first area that posed a MAJOR challenge for me and made me super glad I was only doing a SOFT no-reloads run that at least allowed for TPKs instead of a "sorry if you die you have to start over from the beginning" deal. Because let me tell you, that fight with Andris and his boys? They completely wrecked us five freaking times before I managed to win the fight. At least no one died the time I finally managed to beat them. For the fight here in the story, I mostly described my one successful attempt, but added in a couple of the more interesting bits from the, uh, failed timelines. Most notably, the Aganazzar's Scorcher redirect. In game, when that actually happened, the spell killed Xan instantly. Andris then quickly Dimension Doored behind another character, I don't remember who, badly wounding them with the scorcher too. And let me tell you, this was one of the attempts where I was doing pretty damn well, and I was already thinking about the ramifications this would have for the story, like oh gosh. This isn't just an enemy killing someone. No, that was Linn's spell. He basically made Linn kill Xan, and I'm not sure if she could live with that. And as the player, I was totally pissed off, because jeez couldn't he have the courtesy to just gun us down with magic instead of MAKING ME DO IT FOR HIM? At the same time, damn, I was actually really impressed, because it was one of the most interesting AI tactics I'd ever seen, like it actually responded to my actions, wow. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about how profoundly it would affect the story, as Andris killed the crap out of the rest of us just a few minutes later because it turns out the only things that could actually DAMAGE him while his buffs were up were a couple spells and Xan's moonblade. Anyways, I decided to at least leave it partially in, because holy shit I have never seen the AI do something like that and it made the fight super interesting. Aaaand I have blathered on long enough. Tune in next time as our heroes navigate the icy halls of this weird magic labyrinth, and hopefully find a way to get the Hells outta Dodge! Toodles!


	44. Chapter 44: The Crystalline Labyrinth

A/N: Hello again! Here's another chapter! I'm getting towards the end of my notes, which means updates are going to be made in real time as I play the game pretty soon, I'd say, sometime within the next two or three chapters. For now though, enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Day 96, Hour 11-ish (According to Immy, who has been topside)

We may have some hope of getting out of here after all, Mr. Journal! Xan's managed to identify the trinket what Shandalar shoved into my hands just before we ended up here, and it's some sort of wardstone what's keyed to teleport the holder and anyone near them back to Ulgoth's Beard. Thing is, though, it's inactive, and can only be activated if we have Shandalar's cloak with it. If we can find the cloak, all we have to do to get back is to go up into the open air, and the stone should activate. Of course, that's assuming this is where Shandalar actually meant to send us to find his cloak, and we didn't just get diverted here like the rest of these wizards. If the cloak is somewhere else out across the ocean or whatnot, we've likely got no way out of here. Still. A girl can hope. Xan, though, has of course advised us to expect the worst.

Anyways, Rasaad's woken up since I last wrote, and we're getting ready to leave as we've been sitting around in this frigid corner for damn well long enough. Immy's expedition to the surface to find eggs was successful, though we had a hell of a time finding a place to light a fire far away enough from all these sodding ice walls. At least part of this place is made of rock what won't melt. All in all though, I'd say it's a good start to the day. We've all had a somewhat decent breakfast, we're all well rested, and none of us are hurt anymore. We're damn near as ready as we'll ever be to take on this...ice maze.

Wish us luck, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 96, Hour 14 or so.

It's been a wild few hours, Mr. Journal, but it looks like we're finally going to get the Hells out of here! Long story short, we found a cloak and the wardstone started glowing, so once we go topside, it should teleport us back. We've still got someone to look for down here before we do, though. Long story long, well, I'd better start at the beginning.

So, we set off back into the maze a while back. First room we came upon were the one what we'd fought Andris and his goons in, and boy, was it ruined! Some of the walls were half-melted from all the fire what we'd flung around. Well, Immy and me, we got the bright idea to just burn our way through the place. Would be a lot faster, right? You know, what with walls made of ice and all. Luckily, Xan talked us out of it before we could try anything. Pointed out that we were beneath sea level and didn't know where the rock ended and the ocean began. With wizards, you never know. Could've easily extended this thing past the bounds of the island with strong enough magic. Last thing we'd want is to burn through some ice wall only to have a bunch of freezing water come rushing in to drown us. It would be the Cloakwood Mines all over again, but really cold and without an easy escape route. It's a good thing Xan is around to think of these things, Mr. Journal.

After that, we picked one of the paths out of the room and started walking. We had Ajantis nick the wall a bit with his sword each time we turned a corner or came to a fork. That way, we'd know if we ended up walking around in circles, and we'd be able to backtrack if we had to. Immy took point in front of us to disarm traps, and let me tell you, there were tons of traps. Traps everywhere. We ran into a couple more of those winter wolves in the halls, and let me tell you, those beasts are far much more trouble in narrow spaces if they see you from far off, because then there's no avoiding that sodding ice breath of theirs. On the flip side, it is a lot easier to corner them and keep them from getting ice all over too many of us at once, so I guess it weren't too bad.

It weren't too long, though, before we found another good-sized room, with another wizard in it. This one weren't quite so attacky, at least, not at first. In fact, as soon as he saw us he screamed and ran cowering into one of the corners, begging us not to kill him. Our weapons weren't even drawn, Mr. Journal! Gods, but the other wizards in this place must have been terrible to him, for him to react so! Rasaad tried to calm him and tell him we didn't mean him harm, but even after he weren't scared of us no more he kept gibbering about how he was trapped here and all. Then he noticed the wardstone I was holding and tried to take it from us by force, which was right rude of him. We'd have helped him get out along with us if he'd but asked!

Luckily, he weren't near as much of a mage as Andris's company were, so he didn't cause us too much trouble. In fact, the only one of us what even got a bit bruised was Rasaad, and that were just because the man rammed into him when he tried to break through to get at me. We threw a couple spells at him, and after that, Ajantis straight up charged him with his sword. It was about then he realized he couldn't win and ran off screaming down one of the side passages. Ajantis wanted to go after him, evil must be punished and all, but Yeslick managed to talk him down. Said violence wasn't always the best answer and besides, that man weren't likely to come back to hurt us again after that display. I agree with him, of course. Wouldn't do to go around fighting folk just because they're all scared and desperate. Even if they _are_ evil, though I wouldn't know if they were. I can't do that whole evil detection thing what paladins like Ajantis can do.

Immy noticed he'd dropped something while he were running off, so we went over to investigate that and all. It were a fancy stick. With what magical training I've gotten from Xan so far, I was able to recognize the thing as a wand of paralyzation. If that man'd actually been enough in his right mind to use the thing, we'd have been in real trouble, but as it were, the wand became ours. I mean, it's not like we could have just gone and returned it to him. That would have been a damn fool thing to do, as he might have just attacked us again.

After that, we headed out down another passageway to the south, this one much shorter than the others. Weren't too long at all before we reached another room. Soon as we walked through the door, though, another mage came running toward us, this one with a spell on him what looked like there were five of him there at once! Um. Mirror Image, I think it's called. Makes a girl right dizzy to look at it. So anyways, this mage guy, he started demanding that we answer his questions right away or else he'd kill us, and that we'd better not lie to him or else...well, you know. Downright unsociable of him, if you ask me.

So, he got all up in our face, asking question after question, until he found out how we'd gotten here. When we told him a mage called Shandalar had sent us out to look for his cloak and we'd ended up here, he seemed to recognize the name. Said that if Shandalar sent us, he'd surely given us a way out, and that he'd kill us for it and feed us to his pets. What is it with these mages and their aversion to just asking for help instead of killing folks and taking their stuff, Mr. Journal!? I just don't get it!

Soon as he'd made up his mind to sodding murdelize us, he gave a whistle and next thing we knew, four or five ankhegs burrowed up out of the ground. Some pets! Well, Mr. Journal, as I've said before, I have already dealt with more sodding ankhegs than I ever care to in my lifetime, so I gave the order to retreat. We all ran back into the hallway, with Xan using his Wand of Fireballs to send our newfound friends a bit of a farewell present.

The mage gave chase, though I'd kind of expected that. The point of the running was to get him away from those pets of his, as many of these halls are a mite too narrow for ankhegs. Once we made it to the last room we'd been in, the fight continued, but with considerably fewer bugs. That is to say, no bugs, which is, of course, the best number of bugs. He didn't have a chance to do much before Ajantis smote the Hells out of him, but he did manage to get out a Horror spell right before he kicked the bucket, and the next thing I knew, I was running scared and couldn't even think about where I was. When I came to, I was near the entrance to the south passage, and Rasaad was looking at me all concerned-like. He and Yeslick were there in the entryway – apparently they'd both gone there soon after the horror spell went off so as to block the passage off and keep any of us from going south and running straight into them ankhegs. Right smart of them, that. The two of them told me that the others had scattered thanks to the spell, and could be anywhere by now as there were too many passages out of the room to block. I suppose I was right lucky to end up right back where I started.

After that, the three of us set off to find Immy, Xan, and Ajantis. Let me tell you, Mr. Journal, I were right scared and had so many thoughts going through my head then. What if one of them had run into another mage or one of those winter wolves? Gods, but I were so scared for them.

We met Immy on our way out of the room. She'd apparently come to in the hallways and followed the marks Ajantis had made on the walls earlier to get back. Speaking of Ajantis, we found him right by the entrance, near where we camped last night. He'd apparently not headed back because he thinks it better to stay put when you're lost, as two folks actively looking for each other are more like to pass each other by. Said it was something his ma had told him to do if he ever got lost in the marketplace back when he was wee. It's actually kind of adorable, Mr. Journal. He still listens to his ma's old advice, even when I'm sure he'd rather be charging recklessly forward like he always does.

It took us a while, but we finally found Xan, too. Unlike the others, he'd run down a new path and ended up completely lost. Gods, but he were lucky not to have run into anything down there. We decided to go on from there, as it were a tunnel we hadn't explored yet, and it were certainly better than going forward the way we knew had ankhegs. Avoiding ankhegs is always good. We were all a bit more confident by then, Mr. Journal, as the last mage we'd tangled with had clearly known Shandalar, which meant there was a good chance the cloak really was here. And so, with renewed confidence, we marched onward.

We met yet another mage just down the hall from there, this one a gnome guy what called himself Tellan. Like the others, he weren't quite right in the head, but unlike the others, he didn't end up attacking us. In fact, he agreed to travel with us and try to find a way out together, though he made quite clear that he didn't trust us and he'd loose his full magical fury upon us if we even thought about turning on him. He also would not stop calling me Buttercup. I must have told him my name half a dozen times, but he still insisted I was Buttercup. What's worse, Immy took to using the name too, just to get on my nerves! At least she stopped after a while.

With Tellan's help, the winter wolves what we ran into as we tromped through the maze weren't no problem. From then on, it were nothing but maze for near an hour. Were enough to really drag a girl's spirits down, it were. After what seemed like forever, we finally came upon another room, this one with stairs winding back up to the surface! In this room, we met Dezkiel. He was – you guessed it, Mr. Journal – another mage, and perhaps the biggest arsehole we have met down here, bar none. We talked at length, by which I mean he droned on and on, in love with the sound of his own voice. The short version is that Shandalar was trapped here once, and Dezkiel with him. Shandalar escaped, but left Dezkiel, and all the other mages, behind to fend for themselves, but forgot his cloak in the process. Even I got to admit, that were a right dick move of him, Mr. Journal. Anyway, Dezkiel had the cloak, and he knew we had the stone. But instead of working together, like sensible people, he insisted upon a fight to the death – winner got the right to escape this rock. Oh, I tried to talk him out of it, Mr. Journal, but he was just as much of a loon as every other mage in this sodding labyrinth, and refused to budge on the matter. What a sodding hardhead!

Soon as the fight started, Ajantis and Yeslick rushed straight in. Xan and me, we started slinging spells, and, with all of us working together, Dezkiel didn't stand a chance. This kind of fighting still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, Mr. Journal, but it's not as if he gave us any choice. He _did_ have the cloak on him, just as promised, but after we took it, Immy noticed that Tellan was nowhere to be found. Must have run off in the heat of the battle.

Despite some very vocal objection from certain members of the party who I will not name and shouldn't have to by this point, we have decided to go back into the labyrinth to search for Tellan before we leave, as well as see if there are any other non-hostile mages around who would like a way out. I know there's a chance we may run into other fights because of it, Mr. Journal, but it seems like the right thing to do. I hope it's the right thing to do. Either way, at least we've got a definite way out of here now.

Things are looking up.

* * *

Day 96, Hour 15

We're just about to leave, Mr. Journal. Unfortunately, we couldn't find Tellan down there. In fact, we didn't find anyone down there, except for a few polar bears what roughed Ajantis up a bit. Any mages left down there are real good at not being found. Mayhap they should follow Ajantis's ma's advice.

Anyway, we're just doing a quick sweep of the surface to make sure Tellan didn't decide to wait for us up topside or something, but it's looking like that's not the case. I don't like the idea of leaving him behind like this, after he helped us so, but we can't take him with us if we can't find him, Mr. Journal.

The wardstone activated soon as we stepped up here. It's glowing and making noises. Xan says all we got to do now is stand close together, touch the cloak to the stone, and focus. Soon as everyone's back from the sweep, we're getting the Hells off this rock.

* * *

A/N: So, this actually is what happened with Tellan in my game. He just sort of ended up disappearing during the fight with Dezkiel and I couldn't find him (or his corpse) anywhere afterwards. I've since found out that after some time Tellan is supposed to turn on you and fight you, but like, in my game, he just sort of...vanished? Still don't know what happened to him. Anyway, tune in next time as our heroes return to Ulgoth's Beard and ask Shandalar what the Hells that was all about. Toodles!


	45. Chapter 45: One Day Off

A/N: Hello there, everyone! I'm back with another chapter, and this is a long one! It's a bit different from the others, like fair warning, you're not gonna get many adventures today. Instead, our heroes are taking a well-earned break in Ulgoth's Beard. I hope you enjoy it as much as they did.

* * *

Day 96, Hour 17

Good evening, Mr. Journal! Here we are, at the inn in nice, warm Ulgoth's Beard, with nary a bit of ice in sight. Gods, but it feels good to be back on the Sword Coast, even if it's raining so hard you'd think Talos himself were out there raging. We've been here for the last few hours, getting some well earned rest and relaxation after our ordeals.

It's been raining ever since we've been back, though it were only a drizzle earlier this afternoon when we first got here. Found ourselves standing right in front of Shandalar, just like when we'd left. He was right glad to have his cloak back, but I sure wasn't right glad to see him after what he'd put us through. I were about to go off on him full force with the biggest sodding rant I've ever ranted in my life, but Xan beat me to it. Oh, you should have heard him, Mr. Journal. He practically ripped into that guy, going on about how we could've all been killed, how he should've given us more info to go on, how he shouldn't have lied to us about the nature of the errand, the whole damn nine yards. I only interjected once, to ask what was up about all the wizards what had been trapped in there.

Shandalar sort of shrugged off all the criticism like it were nothing, but did try to explain what the ice maze was. Thing is, he said nothing what we hadn't already figured out on our own. As for the other wizards, he just sort of shrugged it off and said they'd figure a way out eventually. He was so sodding flippant about it all, Mr. Journal! He didn't even care! Why, I bet if we'd all died down here, the only regret he'd feel about it is that he still didn't have his damn cloak! That man really steams my broccoli! Ugh!

At least he rewarded us real nice-like, which was good, as it meant we could afford the best rooms in the inn for tonight. I wanted to look around the town a bit like we hadn't gotten the chance to before getting spirited off to the icy magic arsehole of the world, but the rain got bad fast and we had to literally run for the inn to avoid getting completely drenched.

We've all been eating and drinking at the bar for a few hours now, as after that ordeal, I think we all need a drink. Well, all of us except for Ajantis, apparently, who was walking around, chewing on a piece of bread and trying to lecture folk on the evils of...well, being drunk. I told him maybe he should try it sometime and he were right shocked at me. The boy probably would've lectured me too, if we hadn't gotten interrupted by an older paladin from another adventuring group what's staying the night here. He told Ajantis there's nothing wrong with enjoying a little drink so long as it's in moderation, and invited him over to his table for a talk. They've been over there chatting away for about an hour now.

Immy, meanwhile, got completely soused and nicked a good bit of gold from my coinpurse to pay off some shifty sod's bar tab. She told me he was her "best friend" now and he deserved it, then showed me some sort of rock he'd given her as thanks. Well, let me tell you, Mr. Journal, my heart nearly stopped right there, because it looked near exactly like the wardstone what Shandalar had shoved in my face right before we got whisked off. So I went to talk to this sod myself, find out what the Hells was up with this stone and all. I think I might have come on a mite too strong and scared the poor man, because he told me basically everything about it, including the fact that he sodding _stole_ it, and then took off running. I guess I were still in a foul mood after the way Shandalar played us. I probably should have toned it down a bit, Mr. Journal.

Anyways, yeah, the rock is definitely an inactive wardstone, and it's apparently keyed to one of the dungeons beneath Durlag's Tower. If we ever find the original owner of this thing, we should probably return it.

That's all I've got for now, Mr. Journal. I'm about to head over to my room and study a bit of magic, maybe try to get some creative juices flowing. Then, it's early to bed for me. We're going to take a look around the town tomorrow, which should be fun. Besides that, now that we're back in a safe place again, Xan owes me that magic lesson he promised, and I'm hoping I'll be able to collect on that soon as possible.

* * *

Day 96, Hour 19

Oh, I know of a place where the wizards are mad,  
Where the breezes are freezes and everything's bad  
Every overseas teleport ends in a shock -  
They all end up here on this damned icy rock.

"Oh, come join us here on this bare icy rock.  
We swear it's all right once you get past the shock.  
We've got ice floes and gull eggs and tall polar bears,  
And a bloody big maze waiting right down those stairs,"

That's what the wizards will tell you, you see,  
But do not be fooled, they just want to break free.  
They'll kill you right dead for your magical stock,  
In the hopes it will get them off this sodding rock.

If you ever find yourself upon this damned rock,  
Pray to every god in what you've put any stock  
That you can get over the feeling of shock  
And find a way off of this DAMNED ICY ROCK.

Do you like it, Mr. Journal? I call it, "Sod This Rock."

* * *

 _-The next two pages are full of hastily jotted down notes. It looks like Eibhilin has given up a good deal of legibility for speed here, and it doesn't help that a lot of it is written in some sort of shorthand. From what little you can easily decipher, they appear to be notes on spell properties and areas of effect.-_

* * *

Day 97, Hour 10

Good morning, Mr. Journal! We just finished a breakfast of plain old chicken eggs. No seabirds involved. Gods, but I love chickens. They lay such nice eggs. The next time I see a chicken, I should straight up thank them.

I've been up for the last few hours or so. Xan was up early too, like he always is, so we sat in the common room together and he gave me a few pointers like he promised. That's what most of the scribbles from before are about. Sorry if you have to squint to read most of it – Xan talks fast when he starts getting real _into_ his explanations, and it gets a bit hard to keep up at times. A lot of it was about which spells could affect friends just as much as foes, and which spells had big areas what they affected. I never knew something like, say, a sleep spell could hit both friends and enemies, but I guess it makes sense. Xan says that if I'd like, we can go out behind the inn this evening and I can practice visualizing my spell's area of effect before casting it. Apparently real good mages can figure it out just by looking, though I'm not sure how someone can figure that out so accurately without, I don't know, using a measuring rod or something. I think I'll meet him there, Mr. Journal. I could use the help, and honestly, I'd feel a bit more comfortable if I had something more than sheer luck to rely on when it comes to avoiding friendly fire and whatnot.

Until then, though, I've got a day out on the town to look forward to! Now that we're all done with breakfast, we're just about to head out and take a look around Ulgoth's Beard, and we can have the nice, relaxing day that Shandalar so inconsiderately robbed us of when we first made it into town.

This is going to be good.

* * *

Day 97, Hour 17

It was _great._

I had such a day, Mr. Journal. Such a fun day. A day where I didn't have to see anything die, and where nothing showed up what tried to kill us. Gods, but I've missed days like this. So, let me tell you about this great, great day.

We went out to explore the town pretty soon after breakfast. Yeslick and Ajantis left their armor back at the inn, as today was all about taking it easy. We'd already all decided there weren't gonna be no heroing or fighting, nothing of the sort. Starting this morning, we were 100% off duty. Just regular, non-adventuring civilian types for a day. Gods, but it were a real load off my mind.

The first thing I wanted to do was go see the lighthouse. That was, after all, where we'd been heading before we ran into Shandalar. The lighthouse itself was closed up, but it still were real nice to look at. And the view out across water! Amazing! Oh, I was right, by the way. You, in fact, can still see Baldur's Gate from here, though it is a bit farther south of here than I were expecting – straight out west, there's nothing but open sea.

You know what was right below us, though, right down at the base of the rocky outcropping what the lighthouse were built on? That's right. The beach. Soon as Immy and me saw it, we knew where we were spending the next couple of hours. The both of us, we've always wanted to spend a day at the beach, you know. Read so many books about beaches, and all the right fun things people can do on them, but we weren't ever allowed out of Candlekeep, not even once. Can you imagine living right next to the coast your whole sodding life but never once going to a beach? I can, because I sure did. Let me tell you, Mr. Journal, there weren't no way any of the others could stop us, and luckily, none of them tried.

Ajantis was the first one into the water, before even Immy and me. He practically threw his shirt off and dashed straight into the ocean to swim, looking for all the world like an excited puppy. Gods, Mr. Journal, for someone a couple years older than me, he sure is a real kid. Me and Immy stayed pretty close to the shore at first, having a bit of a splash fight. Until she pushed me over and got my clothes all wet, that is. I was right soaked. So, I did the only logical thing for a girl to do, and pushed her right back. Turned into an all-out waterfight, it did. She won. Barely. The whole time during our shenanigans and Ajantis's swim session, Rasaad were just standing right where the waves met the sand, letting them wash over his feet. His eyes were closed, looked like, so maybe it were a form of meditation or whatnot?

Yeslick and Xan didn't really join in at all, at first. Yeslick is understandably nervous around water, so I suppose I can't fault him for not wanting to swim around in the stuff. Still, I saw him start walking up and down the beach collecting shells and sort of humming to himself, so I think he was having a right good time of it. Xan, of course, was just being a complete party pooper. He was sitting under a tree up on the grassy area just before the beach, with his nose all up in his spellbook.

Immy and me got bored of splashfighting after a while, though, so we went back up on the beach and Immy made me into a sand mermaid. I am the prettiest mermaid, Mr. Journal. Real mermaids got nothing on me. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have done that fully clothed, though, especially not in ones what were still soaked through with seawater. I still haven't managed to get all that sodding sand out of my culottes! There is sand everywhere, Mr. Journal! We didn't even spend all our time at the beach and left to go see the rest of the town several hours before going back to the inn, and I've still managed to track sand all over my room! Is this how sand usually works? Because I really don't think sand should work like this.

Anyways, the beach. Right. So, after a little bit of time had passed, Ajantis came back to the shore and challenged Rasaad to a race out to one of the rocks what were jutting up out of the water about maybe 30, 50 feet out – first one back to the shore were the winner. Rasaad seemed pretty okay with the idea, and agreed. And that is how I got to see Rasaad shirtless, Mr. Journal. Did you know he's completely ripped and his tattoos go all the way down his back? I didn't. And, he is just _so tan_ , Mr. Journal, and he practically _glistens_ in the sun, and it's just. Um. I meant to say. It was really um. Amazing. Yeah. For lack of a better word. Gods, but I hope he didn't see how red my face was. I hope he didn't see me staring at all. Gods, Gods, Goddy Gods Gods, Mr. Journal. Even looking back on it, I can't sodding think straight.

Right, so um. Where was I? The race. Right. So, here's the surprising part. After Rasaad agreed to race and started, um, you know, getting ready, Ajantis called over to Xan and Yeslick and invited them to join in. Now, I were fully expecting Yeslick to politely decline and Xan to either completely ignore Ajantis or snipe at him. I were right about Yeslick, but Xan just calmly folded his robe on the ground and joined the lineup without a word. I learned three things about Xan then, Mr. Journal. First, he actually knows how to, you know, not be a complete spoilsport sometimes. Second, he has got the most silly-looking trousers, no wonder he only wears long robes – those things would clash with anything. Third, he is quite a bit more muscular than I ever would have guessed, considering how damn skinny he usually looks. Gods, Mr. Journal, I can't believe Xan has a six-pack. Sure, it's not all that well-defined, but it's _there_! It's not sodding fair, Mr. Journal! How come Xan gets to have a six-pack and I don't? I'm the one swinging the sodding BOSSHAMMER around! And I know it can't just be because I'm a girl, Mr. Journal. Branwen's a girl, and she had a great six-pack. I saw it once when we were rooming together for the night and I were right jealous, I were.

Look. I can live with more warriory guys like Rasaad and Ajantis being ripped, I mean, it just sort of comes with the territory, but Xan!? My entire worldview has been shattered, Mr. Journal.

So, me and Immy agreed to act as spotters for the race, though I didn't do a very good job of spotting. Erm. Because the sun were in my eyes. Not because I were too busy staring at Rasaad or anything. That was not the reason at all. Seemed to me the race were a tie between Rasaad and Ajantis, but Immy was looking more close-like and she said that Rasaad had beat Ajantis by about a half second, and I weren't about to argue with her on it, what with, you know, the sun being in my eyes and all. Even I could tell Xan came in dead last, though. Poor guy was out of breath for near ten minutes after that.

Once Xan were done gasping for air, we all six of us went for a walk on the beach while we waited for the sun to dry us off a little and all. We didn't have any linens to towel off with or anything, and I'm sure the guys didn't want to get fully dressed again while they were still all covered in water and whatnot. As for myself, I wrung out what I could and tried to let the sun do the rest. Didn't want to run around the rest of town in a completely sopping wet tunic and culottes.

We met another man on the beach what told us all about the history of Durlag's Tower. Not that we asked about it, Mr. Journal. He just really wanted to tell someone about Durlag's Tower, I guess. Learned quite a bit, though. Seems Neera was wrong about it being an abandoned wizard's tower of some sort, and it was actually built by a dwarven hero whose clan were destroyed by mindflayers and doppelgangers and whatnot. The doppelgangers replaced the hero's family, and he managed to defeat them, but went completely mad in the process and shut himself up in his tower and covered it in deathtraps. I asked if the hero were still there in the tower, but the man says no one knows. Probably not, though, as it were a long time ago and he's likely long since died. A bit to think about, Mr. Journal.

Speaking of Durlag's Tower, once we left the beach and headed out into the town, no one would shut up about the sodding place. Apparently most of the adventurers what pass through here are on their way to challenge the tower, so a lot of the townsfolk make their living off of it. One man what called himself Ike offered to take us on a guided tour of the tower, a service he provides for thrill-seeking noblemen and adventurers alike. Of course, it were our day off, Mr. Journal, and we weren't about to spend it traveling towards the most notorious deathtrap for miles around. Instead, we spent some time over in the center of town, where there were a small marketplace. There were merchants there selling food and all sorts of little trinkets, though most folk what set up shop there were selling wardstones for the tower. We asked around, but no one recognized the stolen wardstone what that drunk had given us yesterday. So much for finding the owner. I found one merchant though who was just about to close up shop and leave town, and he offered to sell me his entire stock for a flat price of 500 gold. I figured it might be useful if we ever did have need to go to the tower in the future, and if not, there's at least a market here for what he were selling, right?

Well, it turns out not really. I were completely fleeced, and Immy is not letting me live it down. See, after we'd bought a few other trinkets at the market, we headed back to the inn, where she looked through this bundle of merchandise I'd bought blind. She and Xan examined some of the stuff, and it turns out around half of the wardstones in the bundle are fake. There are a couple real ones, but they're likely worth far less than 500 gold. And this is why we shouldn't split up in the marketplace, Mr. Journal. Alone, one of us, in this case _me_ , might make a right idiot purchase.

Still, getting cheated aside, today were a great day, full of peace and relaxation. I think everyone had a lot of fun, and maybe it's just me, but we all seem closer now, you know? Now, I'd keep writing, but I want to get this damn sand off my clothes before dinner. Write you later, Mr. Journal!

* * *

Day 97, Hour 22

Evening, Mr. Journal. I just got back from my magic lesson with Xan, and I'm right exhausted, I am. But that's not enough to excuse me from writing.

So, I left you right before dinner. Well, at dinner, we got approached by a battle-scarred man what told us he had an adventure for us what would make us yearn for glory. Well, I knew we still had a few days before we had to head back to the Friendly Arm, so I asked him to go ahead and tell us about it. It turned out to be about Durlag's Tower, though – he needed someone to go there to recover some family heirloom, an enchanted dagger or whatnot. That really didn't sound like a couple-day adventure, though, Mr. Journal, especially considering all we've heard of how dangerous the tower is. We ended up turning him down after holding a vote amongst ourselves. Instead, we've decided to head back towards the Friendly Arm tomorrow morning and see if anything finds us along the way.

After dinner, I headed out back behind the inn with Xan to practice visualizing my spells and what area they effected. He set up several targets using fallen sticks and a few items from his pouch, and we did several exercises where he'd tell me which targets to hit and which to avoid, and then I'd have to choose a place to cast my spell what would get that result. Well, I mean, I weren't actually casting spells, mostly. I only had a limited amount what I could cast so mostly Xan would walk on the field and have me direct him to stand where I wanted the center of the spell to be (or the end, for cone spells and stuff like my Scorcher) without moving from my spot to scope the area out myself. Then he'd tell me which targets the spell would have hit. Some of it were a bit surprising, Mr. Journal. Twenty feet is a lot bigger than you'd think it'd be in your head. I think I learned a lot, though. Gods, but I'm glad Xan is around to teach me these things.

Anyways, I'd best be trying to get some sleep now. We're going to be back on the road tomorrow, and I need to make sure I'm good and ready for it. Good night, Mr. Journal. I'll see you in the morning.

* * *

A/N: And thus ends everyone's day off. You know, I've heard every story that goes on long enough will invariably have a beach episode, and hey, that's what happened, though I admit that's not what I was planning when I first started the chapter. I hope I did all right. I've never written a 'beach episode' type story before. Anyways, tune in next time when we get back to the adventure and our heroes head back towards the Friendly Arm to check in with Khalid and Jaheira! See ya then!


	46. Chapter 46: A Divine Slapfight

A/N: ShoujoOnmyouji here, coming at you with another chapter! This one is, like the last one, a bit longer than I expected it to be. Enjoy!

* * *

Day 98, Hour 10

Morning, Mr. Journal! We're just finishing up our breakfast here in the Ulgoth's Beard Inn, and after that, it's time to head back toward the Friendly Arm! The others aren't due to get back there for another four days, so it's not quite time to check back with them yet, but hopefully we'll find some adventure on the way there.

Immy's been bugging Rasaad for the last half hour or so, trying to convince him to show her some moves, you know, punches and kicks and whatnot. Monk stuff. Apparently another adventuring party came back from Durlag's Tower last night while I was out practicing magic with Xan, and one of their number were a monk what showed off some pretty impressive acrobatics while his companions told tales of their adventures. According to Yeslick, who saw the whole thing, Immy's been all starry-eyed about it since then and has been trying to get Rasaad to teach her. Rasaad's been telling her that there's more to being a monk than all that, but she doesn't seem to have got it entirely through her head. Rasaad looks pretty flustered right now, Mr. Journal. I sure hope he can handle it all right. Immy can get right pushy when she's excited, she can.

Oh! Speaking of Durlag's Tower, this one nobleman's strutting around the tavern, has been all morning, bragging about the tour he took of the place last tenday. Perhaps the first few floors of the place are a mite less dangerous than we've been led to believe, if an absolute ponce like him managed to set foot inside and make it out alive. A good thing to take note of, I suppose. Still won't be going there anytime soon, though.

I should probably put you away for now, Mr. Journal, and go over there to give Rasaad some backup. I do have much more experience dealing with Immy, after all, as we've been practically joined at the hip since we were wee. Write you later.

* * *

Day 98, Hour 23

Gods, Mr. Journal, I'm right tired, I am. We've been tromping through the woods all day, and only just made it back to the road near Baldur's Gate earlier this evening. We're camped out by the water's edge for the night, just south of the bridge to the city gates, which, by the way, are still shut tight. I can see a few lights twinkling against the night sky just over the city walls. It's right pretty, it is. The actual journey were pretty uneventful, not much to tell about it, though that kid from before came out of her house to rant at us and shoot us deathglares again when we passed by. I really don't know what her damage is, Mr. Journal.

So, I managed to get Immy off Rasaad's back this morning, telling her she should listen to him when he said being a monk weren't all kicks and flips and general badassery and whatnot. It's the same as doing magic in that way, I imagine. Sure, the shooting fire from your hands bit is cool, but there's a lot of studying, preparation, and hard work behind the scenes before you get there. Rasaad said my analogy worked, so I'm guessing that's a good way of putting it. Anyways, Immy's agreed to hear more about his order – the Sun Soul, I think it was called – before pestering him again about the 'cool' stuff. After all, if you want to learn how to do something, you've got to learn about all of it, not just the fun part. If you could cut out all the background stuff, I wouldn't have to spend so much of my down time studying and practicing magic with Xan. Erm, not that I mind, Mr. Journal. There aren't many people I'd rather spend time with. Immy or Rasaad, maybe.

And speaking of them, Rasaad's talking with Immy right now over by the campfire. She looks like she's just about to fall asleep listening to him go on about philosophy and discipline and whatnot, so maybe the whole monk thing isn't for her, after all. Either that, or she's just real sleepy. I know I am. Should probably be getting some rest, I should. Good night, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 99, Hour 10

Morning, Mr. Journal. We're just about ready to head out. Ajantis made breakfast this morning with some supplies what we'd picked up in the Ulgoth's Beard marketplace yesterday before setting out, and he is a surprisingly good cook for someone what hasn't been fending for himself all that long. I asked him about it, and apparently he learned from a hired chef what worked at his family's estate when he was wee. Turns out he's from minor nobility up in Waterdeep. Must have been nice to grow up all rich in a big old mansion with a personal chef and whatnot. Though, I guess that makes it even more surprising he took the initiative to learn how to cook, Mr. Journal. He really seemed to enjoy making food this morning, though, so maybe it's a passion of his. Hm. I wonder how he ended up in training to be a paladin, of all things. I mean, he definitely fits the role, but how he first found the path, I've no idea. I should ask him sometime.

In other news, after speaking at length with Rasaad last night, Immy has decided she doesn't want to learn how to be a monk after all. She says that aside from all the awesome kung fu nonsense, the adventuring type of monk is still a bit too close to the monks back at Candlekeep for her tastes, and if she'd wanted that kind of life she never would have snuck out after me in the first place. So much for it being entirely because of our sisterly bond, eh, Mr. Journal? Still, it's probably for the best. I can't for the life of me see Immy as a monk. Anyways, it's time for us to get going, Mr. Journal, so I'll see you again this evening.

* * *

Day 99, Hour 22

We've spent the day retracing our steps back and forth, Mr. Journal, trying to resolve one Hell of a problem. We thought it were a simple dispute at first, but now there's murder involved, and right and wrong might not be the same as good and evil here, and I am very confused. It's given me a right headache, it has, just as sure as all this tromping up and down the coastline has given me a foot-ache.

So, let me try to sort this out for you in a way what you might understand, all right? We started heading back down the road to the Friendly Arm this morning, and soon, we were on the portion of the road what were south of Baldur's Gate. You know, the place with all the farms where we'd nearly gotten ourselves killed by ankhegs several days back. We went off road once we hit the farmlands and stayed near the water's edge, as ankhegs usually tend to pop up a bit farther from the water. They're smart enough not to go burrowing too near somewhere they may end up flooding their own tunnels, after all.

We stopped for lunch at a pretty spot near a little dock with a right nice view of Baldur's Gate across the water. Just as we'd sat ourselves down to eat, we were approached by three fishermen what looked right haggard. They said we looked like adventurers and asked if we could help them with a problem they were having. I invited them to sit down and eat with us and tell us about their troubles, see if there were anything we could do, and all.

Leader of the fishermen, fellow by the name of Sonner, told us he and his friends were being harassed by a priestess of Umberlee what lived just up the coast. Every time they went out fishing, she'd call up great waves and make the sea right dangerous to navigate. They've lost several boats, and gave up on fishing altogether once one of their number drowned. I don't know much about Umberlee, Mr. Journal, except that she's some sort of evil ocean goddess and her followers call her "the Bitch Queen," which, if you ask me, is a right rude thing to say to your own sodding god. At any rate, Sonner wanted us to strong arm this priestess into leaving them alone. And by strong arm, I mean he wanted us to kill her.

Well, it sounded like a right terrible situation they were in, but I'm no sodding murderer. I told Sonner so, and let him know that if he told me where this lady was, I'd at least try to talk to her for him, negotiate and all that, but I weren't doing any killing if I could help it, evil priestess or no.

I wasn't prepared for what he said next, Mr. Journal.

He told us this priestess lived in a small house just north of the entrance to Baldur's Gate. Well, I knew the place, Mr. Journal, and you know the place, too. And that house's only occupant is one very angry little kid what's yelled at us at least twice now just for being in her line of sight. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, though, Mr. Journal, as there _were_ something about fishermen in her ranting, if I remember it right.

I were right skeptical after that, Mr. Journal. After all, these were three grown men, and they were trying to convince me they were getting bullied by a girl what couldn't have been older than twelve and couldn't handle it on their own. And, well, an unusually angry twelve year old is still just a twelve year old. Sonner told me that looks could be deceiving and she were actually a right powerful priestess what wanted to kill him and his friends, but I weren't convinced. Still, we agreed to look into it, at least.

So, as soon lunch were over, we turned straight around and went right back the way we came, walking for several hours. It were already late afternoon by the time we reached the little house by the waterside again. The girl was there in the front yard, and soon as she saw us, she marched over to chew us out again, but before she could get a word in edgewise, Rasaad tried to calm her down, told her we just wanted to ask her something and we'd be on our way. She agreed, but told us to be quick about it, so I told her we'd run into these fishermen to the south what had some dispute with her, and asked her exactly what was going on there between them.

She refused to tell us anything and just got even more ornery than before, told us to leave or else. I tried to reason with her, ask her again, but then she straight up attacked us. The fishermen were right about one thing – she were definitely a priestess of Umberlee, and had the spells to prove it. Well, we fought defensively, Mr. Journal. I mean, none of us wanted to get hurt but we weren't about to go beating up a little kid. Immy snuck up on her while she were distracted with us and tripped her to disrupt her casting, then sort of grabbed her by the arm to stop her from keeping up the attack before telling her we didn't want to fight her, and if she'd just tell us what was going on we might could solve the situation.

The poor kid just about broke down into tears then, and told us her story. And, well, it were a sad one, Mr. Journal. She were harassing the fishermen, that much were true, but they were the ones what had struck the first blow. If her tale is to be believed, the fishermen murdered her mom, a fully fledged priestess of Umberlee, and stole a bowl what summoned water elementals from her. After that, the poor girl was left all alone in that house of hers. The kid, who says her name's Tenya, tried to get the bowl back, but the fishermen refused to return it, and that's why she retaliated. She says that unless the bowl is returned, her mom's spirit can't go on to the afterlife, and she's getting real tired of fighting, as she doesn't have near the strength of will her mom had.

Well I promised her right there I would march back to the fishermen, confront them about this, and try to get the bowl back if it were true, and until then she should probably stay indoors, as Sonner's men were clearly out for blood. Well, she regained her composure right quick, thanked me somewhat grudgingly, then went inside. Soon as she were out of earshot, Ajantis completely went off on me. Told me he'd clearly sensed evil from her, and evil must be cleansed from the earth wherever it was. I told him to lay off, as we weren't about to go around smiting little kids just because they set off his fancy paladin _evil senses_. He admitted that hurting a child did seem pretty wrong, but still didn't want to help her, as she were evil and served an evil goddess. We shouldn't help evil, and all that.

Well I let him know that he was full of beans, and Xan backed me up, saying that Ajantis needed to stop living in such a black and white world. I went and explained my reasoning to him too, for good measure – if Tenya's story were true, then the fishermen had committed theft and foul murder, both decidedly evil acts, and she were clearly the victim here, evil or not. Also, the evil Ajantis were sensing from her could just as easily be her connection with the Bitch Queen. After all, I imagine even evil gods watch over their followers' children. He still didn't seem convinced, but at least agreed to go along with the plan after that.

Still, it _is_ a pretty hard concept to wrap my head around, so I can see where he's coming from. Until now, I never considered that sometimes the right thing was to side with someone who were evil, and that someone on the side of evil may occasionally be in the right in a specific situation, even if they were still, you know, evil, overall. After all, I can't imagine helping a little kid bring her mom's murderers to justice could ever be wrong, Well, you know, if these guys really are murderers like she says they are. Can you see why I've got a headache now, Mr. Journal?

And so, we headed back south. Again. For several _more_ hours. This time we strayed a bit too far from the waterside and, just like clockwork, got attacked by a sodding ankheg. There were only one of them, so it didn't give us too much trouble, but Gods, I've still had enough of ankhegs and their acid spit.

We're almost back to where we met the fishermen now, Mr. Journal, but it got dark hours ago, it's right late, and we're all abso-sodding-lutely exhausted, so we've decided to rest here by the water for the night. Hopefully by this time tomorrow we'll have this whole mess resolved.

* * *

Day 100, Hour 8

Morning, Mr. Journal. I am ready to get this shite dealt with. Are you ready to get this shite dealt with, because I sure as Hells am. We're going to head out and go confront Sonner with Tenya's story soon as we've had a quick breakfast. Well. Also, soon as Immy wakes up. She is still very much asleep, Mr. Journal.

Ajantis has been real quiet ever since he first got up this morning. Looks right deep in thought, he does. I think the nature of this dispute we've gotten ourselves caught up in is still really bothering him. I can see why. I mean, it's a bit confusing for even me. I can't imagine what it'd do to someone who mostly only sees good and evil and has a bit of trouble wrapping his head around the in-between. Ah well. At least it will be behind us soon enough, Mr. Journal. Anyways, I'd better go help drag Immy out of her bedroll now, if we want any chance of getting moving before high noon.

* * *

Day 100, Hour 17

Welp. Good job, team! We managed to make ourselves pawns in a petty power play between two quibbling deities, and we are now officially on Talos's shite list. I suppose we'll have to look out for storms in the future, as we're like to get smote by lightning bolts or something. That _is_ Talos's thing, I'm pretty sure. In related news, Xan is about to _lose_ his shite over all this. He's been pacing back and forth and muttering to himself about it for the past fifteen minutes or so, and he's starting to wear a sodding trail into the ground. We're going to have to snap him out of it so we can get back on the road. In the meantime, let me tell you a story, Mr. Journal. The story of how we ended up on Talos's shite list.

Once Immy were conscious and on her feet, we got moving and made a beeline for where we'd met Sonner and his fisherman buddies the day before. They were there, sure enough, and they lit up considerably when they saw us. Didn't last long though, as their hopes that we had taken care of their problem were dashed when I confronted them about what Tenya had said. Sonner tried to convince me that the kid was lying to us, and said if I believed him and took care of her, he'd give us 100 gold in reward.

That only made me more suspicious, Mr. Journal. I mean, if he were telling the truth, why would he need to bribe me? So, I refused his little 'offer' and told him I really didn't appreciate being used, and if he were smart, he'd tell me the truth about what had happened. After all, if he hadn't killed Tenya's mom, he'd have nothing to fear from telling me the whole story.

Well, it turns out he absolutely did kill her, Mr. Journal. Not only that, he had his men torture her to get the command word for the bowl so they could use it to plunder fish and other riches from the seas. Well, I was right outraged, Mr. Journal. Told him to give me one good reason not to turn him in to the Flaming Fist right there. He said he and his men hadn't been working of their own accord when they committed the crime. Told me that recently there had been too many storms for safe travel on the seas, and so he'd struck a bargain with the temple of Talos in Baldur's Gate. The priests there told him that Talos would protect him and his comrades if they removed a priestess of Umberlee that had been a thorn in their side for a long time.

Well, that may have been a great motive and all, but they still agreed to commit murder, Mr. Journal. And I'm pretty sure the torture were all their idea. At this point even Ajantis were on Tenya's side, and Yeslick were having to hold the boy back just to keep him from going all RIGHTEOUS FURY on these murderous arseholes.

So, I told Sonner I'd make him a deal, by which I mean I told him he'd better return that bowl right quick or we'd have to do justice the hard way. Well, after looking nervously over at Ajantis, he agreed, not wanting to be smote and all, and handed the thing over. But, he gave us a warning as he did. Told us to "take it and know the Storm Lord knows who opposes him," and added that he'd stay away from any Talos shrines in the future if he were us, as Talos were a right vengeful god.

After that, he and his men ran away before we could do anything else, much to Ajantis's chagrin. He was right angry that we'd let such evildoers go, but I was able to calm him down by telling him we'd report their crimes to the next Fist patrol what we came across. Xan, on the other hand, were absolutely distraught at the thought of having invoked the ire of a big scary storm god like Talos, and was loudly proclaiming that we were all doomed and there were no way we were getting out of this one. He continued this tirade the entire walk back to Tenya's place – all four sodding hours of it. I honestly think he only switched to mumbling to himself because he lost his voice from all that shouting. In fact – hold on, Mr. Journal.

Confirmed! He has most definitely lost his voice. I just got his attention, asked him if he were all right. He replied that of course he wasn't all right, but it came out as this raspy squeak and I could barely hear half of it. I told him he should probably stop talking to himself if he didn't want to hurt his throat and make it near impossible for him to do magic for a while in the process. He says he thinks it might already be too late for that and seems right despondent about it, but sure enough, he shut right up after that.

Anyways, where was I? Right, we went back to Tenya's place and gave her back the bowl. She took it with a sort of grim satisfaction that was right creepy for a little kid, and thanked us, saying that those fishermen would know better than to ever try setting sail again. She also told us we had Umberlee's favor and the Bitch Queen would likely help us in the future. A rather cold comfort, that.

This whole time, I was sure we were doing the right thing, Mr. Journal. But after that creepy display of hers, I feel less like we've helped a kid avenge her mom and more like we've been completely played for saps and used in some petty squabble between two really angry gods. Still, I don't think I'd have done it any differently if I had to do it over again. I mean, the fishermen were still the bad guys in this, after all.

Now that all this is over, we've found ourselves right back where we started this mess, just a bit south of the city gates. It may mean retracing our steps yet another time, and it may mean traveling well into the night, but we've decided to continue straight on to the Friendly Arm from here without rest. It's still early evening, and we're close, Mr. Journal. Really close. It'll be worth it to walk a few more hours than usual if there's a nice bath, a hot meal, and a proper bed at the end of it. Hopefully we don't run into anything what wants to kill us on our way there, as our wizard has yelled himself hoarse and probably won't be of much use in a fight for at least the next few hours. I'll let you know once we're safely inside the inn's walls, okay? When next we speak, I will be writing from a nice warm bed.

* * *

A/N: And with that, we're all caught up! Once they reach the Friendly Arm, we'll have made it to my last save before I took a break to edit my journal for posting and catch up on the most recent in-game weeks. I'm going to be playing Baldur's Gate again, and this story is going to get updated in real time as I play! Now, neither you nor I will know what happens next! I'm excited! Tune in next time as our heroes return to the Friendly Arm Inn, and after that...who knows? Seeya later, and as always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review - I thrive upon your feedback! T-o-o-d-l-e-s~!


	47. Chapter 47: Operation Codpiece

A/N: An admittedly short and silly chapter for today guys, sorry about that. I rested several days in the Friendly Arm to make up the rest of the tenday talked about in the story, so there's gonna be a bit of filler here. We'll be getting back to some actual adventuring soon, I promise.

* * *

Day 101, Hour 1

What did I tell you, Mr. Journal? Just as I promised, as I write this, I am sitting on a nice, warm bed with a blanket thrown straight over my head. It's one of two beds in the room what I'll be staying in for the next few days here in the Friendly Arm. The other bed is Immy's, but she's out skulking around the grounds. Said nighttime were the best time to practice her stealth skills, and all. She hasn't gone out to practice in ages, Mr. Journal. I wonder what made her decide to start up again?

Anyways, the journey back to the Friendly Arm wasn't all that eventful. We ran into a Flaming Fist patrol on the road right after sunset, and we stopped them and reported Sonner's crimes to them. The patrol leader said he'd look into it, but that there wasn't much he could do without concrete evidence. Funny that 'evidence' requirement never seems to apply when they're harassing folk on the road just because they 'look suspicious.' You know, sort of like that one drow lady what we met way back when we were looking for Tazok's bandits. The Fist officer bothering her didn't give two shites about 'evidence,' or that she hadn't actually done anything. You'd think they'd be even more gung-ho about punishing, you know, _actual_ criminals, what had done _real murders_ and all, but apparently not. Gods!

I'm going to shut up about this now, Mr. Journal, I'm only making myself more upset by going on about it.

On to happier subjects! Specifically, Kivan and Branwen! They're here. Got in early, before we did. We ran into them in the common room tonight and had dinner, all of us together, just like old times. Even a few of the Neeras sat down with us. Branwen and Kivan both look well, though from the sound of it they haven't had much luck hunting down leads on Tazok and Kivan seems just a bit on edge over it. They did have a pretty epic battle against a big group of bandits, though – stragglers from Tazok's camp what had broken off and formed their own little gang after we routed the camp. Branwen told me all about it, and it was right exciting! She'd make a good bard, Mr. Journal. Her talespinning is excellent. It's too bad none of the bandits what they roughed up knew anything about where Tazok had went.

The Neera army hasn't had near as exciting a time. I talked with Neera a bit, and from the sound of it, she and her clones have stuck pretty close to the Friendly Arm for the past tenday, trying to earn a bit of extra coin. Bentley's been paying her to take out a couple groups of hobgoblins what've been attacking travelers on the road to the inn. She says that once she's saved up enough gold, her army's going to get new gear and try tackling Durlag's Tower again. Let no one say she's not persistent, Mr. Journal.

Khalid and Jaheira aren't here yet, but I'm not that worried as they're not due to arrive for another couple of days. The rest of us are just here early, is all. At least it gives us an excuse to rest and relax for the next few days. That should be nice. Anyways, I'm right tired, Mr. Journal, so I'll see you again in the morning. For now, sleepytime can't come soon enough.

* * *

Day 101, Hour 9

Good morning, Mr. Journal! I've just finished having a right nice breakfast with Branwen, Rasaad, and Kivan. Good company and good conversation – what more can a girl ask for? I only wish the others had joined us, but hey, what can you do? Yeslick's upstairs offering prayers to Clangeddin, Xan's shut himself in his room to study, and Immy...well, I'm pretty sure Immy's not going to be up until past noon. She hasn't had a chance to properly sleep in for ages, and knowing her, she's going to milk the opportunity for all it's worth.

In less pleasant news, guess who just checked into the inn this morning? That sodding half-orc. The one what mistook me for a sodding barmaid. I think his name was Dorn or something, not that I give a shite. I won't blame you if you don't remember him, Mr. Journal, it _has_ been months, after all. Oh, I know it's better to let bygones be bygones, but he's making it awful hard for me to forgive him, he is. He straight up pushed me out of the way when he was heading for the counter this morning, and I nearly dropped the drink I was carrying. And, when I told him to watch where he was going, he went and acted like it was my fault for not getting out of his way. Gods, Mr. Journal, he's so sodding rude! I still can't believe he tried to convince us to work with him that one time. Ugh.

But-! I can't let that get me down! We've all got a day off today, Mr. Journal! A day where we don't have anything planned! It would be right silly of me to spend it fuming at some arse who's probably just going to ignore me anyway. I think I'll go for a walk or something. And from there, who knows?

* * *

Day 101, Hour 22

Ah, Mr. Journal! It's so good to catch up with old friends. Especially old friends what are BOSSHAMMER BUDDIES. That's exactly what I did today. After I'd cleared my head with a short walk around the inn grounds, I headed back to the common room. But, before I got inside, I ran into Branwen on the way up the stairs. We got to chatting and before I knew it we were just sitting there on the stairs, laughing, catching up, and talking about old times.

Of course, it weren't too long before we realized we were blocking traffic, and we had to find somewhere else to go. Branwen suggested we go outside the inn's walls and spar a bit. I agreed near immediately, of course – she's damn near mastered the art of BOSSHAMMERING, and it'd been far too long since we'd been able to get in that kind of practice.

I don't think either of us were expecting to run into Ajantis out there, but it turns out he'd gone off right after breakfast to practice his sword swings. Long story short, the three of us ended up doing some weapons training together, and it was awesome. Branwen helped me to get more balance in my swings, and, even though neither of us know much about swords, we managed to teach Ajantis a thing or two about proper aim. At least now he's not swinging that thing around like it's a toy. For someone who claims to have been trained by a proper sword master, he sure has a lot to learn, Mr. Journal. It's a shame nobody else in our group knows enough about heavy swords to give him some pointers. Maybe Khalid will have some time to teach him a bit once he and Jaheira get here.

I was right tuckered out by the time we went back inside, and my arms were aching something fierce. Immy had just gotten her day started, though, and she dragged me up to the bar and insisted we hang out. Well, Mr. Journal, who am I to say no to my dearest, darlingest sister? By which I mean my only sister, but still. We talked about a lot of stuff, like our time on the road, and what happened with that sodding half-orc this morning. Uggggh. He makes me so mad, Mr. Journal. Oh. Right. I also asked her about the whole stealth practice thing and what made her get so much more serious about it, and it turns out it's because of Rasaad. She says that even if the monk's life isn't for her, she was right impressed with the discipline and hard work he put into it and it made her feel a mite inadequate. So, she's decided to put a bit more effort into her own chosen profession so she can become the greatest sneak thief ever.

That's when she got _the idea_.

I knew I was in for trouble the second I saw that look on her _face_. She told me she had a _plan_. A plan to further hone her thieving skills and to put that damn half-orc in his place in one fell swoop. And of course, she needed my help to carry it out. Turns out she has one hell of a prank planned, and honestly, I am all for knocking that arsehole down a few pegs, so I agreed to help out.

Are you ready to hear it, Mr. Journal? The plan? Okay. Get this – embarrassing laundry swap. We're going to sneak into the back of the inn in the dead of night, after all the laundry's been picked up, and swap his for someone else's. All we've got to do is make sure we know what room he's in so we switch the right guy's laundry. Monitoring the laundry pick-up? My job. I should pretend to be reading on the second floor, watch which room he goes into tonight, and stay there reading until I see the laundry pick-up. Then I go back to our room and share the info with Immy. After that, we wait until everyone goes to bed, break into the back rooms, and commence with the swap. Immy has dubbed the plan "Operation Codpiece," because if we can find a really silly-looking one of _those_ to throw into the pile, oh man. Just. Oh man.

This is simultaneously the best and the worst idea ever.

Wish us luck.

* * *

Day 102, Hour 0

It's time.

Operation Codpiece is a go.

If I don't survive this, tell Xan he can have my spellbook. Not that he really needs it. Oh, and give my magic BOSSHAMMER to Branwen. Seriously, Mr. Journal, this is my last will and testament right here, don't lose it. Even if I do come back, you may need it later, my being an adventurer and all.

* * *

A/N: And we're stopping here, right at Peak Silly. Tune in next time for the (inevitably disasterous) conclusion to Operation Codpiece. Ahem. Also tune in next time when Khalid and Jaheira get back and everyone actually discusses their next moves. Seeya!


	48. Chapter 48: Comings and Goings

A/N: Bwoop bwoop! Sorry this took so long to get out! I've actually been playing the game again, and I've built up another backlog of notes to work from! And let me tell you, there are some things coming on the horizon that I am HECKING EXCITED to write about! So, for now, here's the chapter, with a promise of more adventures to come! Enjoy!

* * *

Day 102, Hour 1

It is done.

Went off without a hitch, thanks to the recon I'd done earlier in the night. Well. Almost without a hitch. Nearly ran into old Bentley on his way to get himself a midnight snack. Luckily, Immy pulled me into a corner right on time.

The switch was even better than we could have hoped – that one poncy nobleman with the gold pants what shows up around here every once in a while was staying the night, and the Pants. Were. There. That's not all, Mr. Journal – did you know he owns a bejeweled codpiece? Bejeweled, Mr. Journal! And not with no common gems, neither! I'm talking rubies! Diamonds, even! We also found some froufy frilly garments in some of the other piles. So, we put Mr. Cranky Mean Half Orc's stuff in with the poncy nobleman's other stuff, then threw all our finds into the empty basket in its place. After that, we snuck right back up to our room, quiet as mice.

I can't wait for tomorrow morning, Mr. Journal. This is gonna be great.

* * *

Day 102, Hour 11

Gods, Mr. Journal. I think I just had a straight-up near death experience. That half orc is sodding terrifying. Gods! I also feel right ashamed of myself. Immy and me didn't think about how our actions might affect other people, and we should have. On top of it all, I got lectured by Ajantis. Ajantis, Mr. Journal! I hate that I got lectured by some green kid barely out of Waterdeep, and I hate even more that he was _absolutely sodding right_!

So, here's what happened. Me and Immy, we both got up real early so we could see how Mr. Asshole Half Orc took our prank. Xan was already down there poring over his spellbook with a cup of tea in hand, and Neera, Ajantis, and Branwen all wandered downstairs at some point before _it_ happened.

We were getting right hungry, so Immy flagged down one of the servers to order us some breakfast. Right as the server were taking down Immy's order, there were a great commotion from upstairs – a lot of shouting and thumping, and the sound of something breaking against a wall. Seconds later, the laundry lady ran down the stairs looking right terrified, holding on to this big hamper slung across her back like her very life depended on it. The half orc came stomping down after her, still in his sodding pajamas and holding this big bundle of clothes in his arms. Immy and me could see from where we were that they were the froufy ones what we'd swapped his stuff for last night.

Well, he were practically roaring at this poor lady about how incompetent she was, threatening that she'd regret being born if she didn't do her sodding job right. He took the clothes, piece by piece, and started slinging them at her – the bejeweled codpiece caught her right across the face, poor thing! Well, Immy and me felt right bad, but we were too scared to say or do anything. Bentley stepped in, though, got the half-orc to back off, and the laundry lady ran off into the back, crying. After a short shouting match between Bentley and the half-orc, the guy stormed back upstairs.

Me and Immy gave each other a _look_. I don't think either of us were quite sure what to do, Mr. Journal. Well, after a couple minutes, I just couldn't take it no more. I got up, went over to Bentley, and apologized. Explained everything Immy and me had done last night. Well, he said he were right disappointed in us, gave us a long lecture about respecting the inn staff and our fellow patrons, then brought the laundry lady out and made us apologize to her, too. Had to drag Immy over and everything.

Ajantis overheard, and before I knew it, he was lecturing us too, going on about how what we'd done was right dishonorable, how we shouldn't have carelessly endangered the laundry lady because of some petty slight, and that we shouldn't be skulking around in the dead of night like common thieves. What's worse, he wanted us to apologize to the half-orc, and bring his clothes to him ourselves. Bentley agreed and said that if we did that, he'd give us a pass this time since we were long-time guests. He warned us that if we misbehaved ourselves like that again though, he'd have to kick us out. Well, I was right terrified, Mr. Journal. I thought for all the world that if we went up there and told this half-orc what we'd done, he'd kill us where we stood. But Ajantis was right, Mr. Journal. Immy and me made the mess, so Immy and me needed to clean it up. I told the laundry lady where we'd stashed the clothes, and she went and got them for us. Luckily, she hadn't delivered anything to the froufy nobleman's room yet, so we didn't have to involve any more inn guests.

So, Immy and me headed up to the half-orc's room and knocked on the door. He practically flung it open, looked ready to go off on us before realizing it wasn't the laundry lady. He asked us all menacing-like if the laundry lady had been too much of a coward to face him herself. Gods, Mr. Journal, both me and Immy were shaking in our boots! We barely managed to stammer out the truth and apologize for the trouble. He took a threatening step forward and glared at us, and I acted on impulse, Mr. Journal. I did the stupidest possible thing I could have done. I stepped forward right back, shoved the clothes at him, and got right up in his face, telling him that maybe we wouldn't have pulled a prank on him if he hadn't been so rude in the first place.

He leaned in closer, and asked me, "What did you say?" in this low growl what made the hairs in back of my neck stand straight on end. I repeated myself, though a lot quieter and meeker than before. I remember thinking, _Gods, but I've done it now._ He got in even closer, uncomfortably close, staring me straight down, and I thought for all the world he were going to reach out and snap me in two. I was right terrified, I was, it was all I could do just to meet his gaze.

And then, he threw his head back and let out this single, roaring laugh. He cracked this terrible grin and said, "So, you do have a backbone after all."

He went on to say that he liked that and had no time for cowards, and in recognition of that he'd let Immy and me live...this time. Then he got all scowly again and added, dead serious, that if we ever crossed him a second time, then inn rules or not, our heads would roll and our blood would decorate the common room. And I have no doubt he meant every word of that. Gods, but that man is terrifying.

Anyways, Immy and me are back downstairs now, finally having our breakfast. 'Course, I had to listen to a third lecture before digging in – Xan pulled me aside to have a word with me once I came back down here. Says it was right childish of me and he'd expected better, and that I should know better than to mess with guys like that. I think that last lecture stung the most of all. Gods, but this food doesn't taste good at all, Mr. Journal. Not when I'm feeling this down on myself. I did something stupid. I am glad no one got hurt, at least. Especially not that laundry lady. I didn't even think about how that guy might lash out at her, you know?

Anyways, Neera says she's going out on hobgoblin patrol this afternoon, and she's asked if Immy and me want to join her. Might help to get my mind of things. I'm probably going to go. I admit, I miss hanging out with her, and, well, I've never seen any bears around here, so I'm pretty sure it won't end up like last time. I'll let you know how it goes, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 102, Hour 20

Wow, Mr. Journal, there is a lot going on now. It's a bit hard to process all at once. So, let me try to get it all down on paper. Let's see. Um. Khalid and Jaheira are back, Kivan and Branwen left, Xan's leaving tomorrow, and we've got the next couple of tendays laid out for us, mostly. But before I get into that, let me tell you about HOBGOBLIN ADVENTURES WITH THE NEERA ARMY.

So, Immy and me agreed to go with Neera and her clones on patrol. Pretty sure I already mentioned she's been taking out some hobgoblins what've been attacking travelers. Xan tried to talk us out of it, as he's still leery of her wild magic, but he failed in that mission. Ajantis liked the idea of helping Bentley out like that, so he went up to the counter and offered to help with guard duty for the day. Bentley must have said yes, because the last we saw of him that morning, he was headed for the guard barracks for briefing.

Anyways, it were a real nice day, and it felt good to stretch my legs and walk around and all. Much better than hanging around at the inn doing nothing, and the sunlight and fresh air did right wonders for my heavy conscience. Neera did too, now that I think about it. She actually seemed impressed by our prank and thought it'd been a fun idea and would've worked out fine if that half-orc hadn't overreacted and all. She assured me that the two Neera clones walking with us thought the same, even if they didn't talk and all. Still, I'm sure as Hells not going to bother him again any time soon.

Most of the day were pretty leisurely, just walking around and enjoying the scenery. We only ran into one hobgoblin raiding party, and we took them by surprise, so none of us even got hurt, just a little itchy. Um. That last part was because of Neera's wild magic, though. She had a wild surge and my tunic was itchy for the next half hour. Same for Immy. It was no fun.

By the time we got back, it were already early evening, and Branwen and Kivan weren't anywhere to be found. Yeslick told me that Kivan had gotten tired of waiting around for Khalid and Jaheira to show up, even though they weren't due until this evening, and he and Branwen had left. At least Kivan thought to leave his report on what he'd found out with Yeslick before running off after Tazok again. I mean, not that he found out all that much, but still!

Joke was on him, though, because Khalid and Jaheira showed up not an hour later, while the rest of us were eating dinner and Ajantis was gushing to us about how much he enjoyed guard duty. Sounds right boring to me, but it takes all kinds, I guess. Anyways, Jaheira updated us on the situation while Khalid went over to talk with Bentley. The city gates are still closed, but we've got a reason now – apparently it's not just because of the bandit activity what was going on until we kicked it in the proverbial nads, but also because of rising tensions with Amn. Folks are a bit wary about letting strangers in and out of the city right now. According to Khalid and Jaheira's contacts within the city, the Grand Dukes have been discussing reopening the gates for the last few tendays or so. Jaheira says that considering the usual pace of bureaucracy in Baldur's Gate, the gates will probably be open again in around two or three tendays. Sounds like a right long time just to make one little decision, Mr. Journal, but then again, I don't really know too much about politics or government or any of that stuff. Never had the mind for it.

That timeframe does give us more time for just some nice plain old exploring and adventuring and all, but it also means something else. It means Xan is leaving. He made the decision soon as he heard we had at least two tendays left to burn. Says that with the way things are starting to come to a head, it's best if he reports back to his superiors in Evereska before we all end up involved in something we're not going to make it out of alive. His words, not mine, Mr. Journal. Personally, I think that once we _do_ clash with the Iron Throne, we're gonna kick arse and take names. But I can't argue that it's important for Xan to, you know, do his job. I just hope he'll be all right traveling alone. He's going to stay with us tomorrow until we reach Beregost, as he wants to stock up on a few things at High Hedge before setting off. That's where we'll part ways, though. He says if all goes well – and he seriously doubts all will go well – he'll be back in a tenday and a half, and will wait for us here at the Friendly Arm.

Khalid and Jaheira are going to get back with their contacts again and see what they can do to speed the process along with the gate opening and all. Gods, but I never realized they had friends in such high places that they could do something like that.

And as for the rest of us? Well, we've talked it over as a party, and we're going to Gullykin. I know those halflings were having some trouble with kobolds in the ruins, and I felt right bad that we didn't have time to investigate when we passed through last time. I can only hope the problem hasn't gotten worse and the kobolds haven't found a way into the town itself. Pretty much everyone is all for helping the halflings out, which is nice. I was kind of worried we'd end up debating it. We usually do, when I suggest going off the beaten path like that. So, tomorrow we'll be heading south to Beregost, and then east from there to Gullykin.

Anyways, I'd best get going, Mr. Journal. Xan asked me to meet him outside tonight, said there was one thing he still wanted to teach me before he leaves what might could save me from a gruesome death at the hands of magical attackers. That's probably an exaggeration on his part, but that doesn't mean I should keep him waiting.

* * *

Day 103, Hour 10

Good morning, Mr. Journal! We've had a right fine breakfast this morning. I don't think I've had bread this fresh in a while. Khalid and Jaheira left a couple hours ago, but we're still finishing up a few things here. We'll be leaving for Beregost soon.

You're probably wondering what Xan wanted to show me last night, though, aren't you? Well, you know how you gotta concentrate to cast a spell? That concentration can be broken if you get hit by a spell first. Xan showed me how to take advantage of different spells' casting times and use a fast spell to disrupt a slower one. He says Magic Missile is one of the fastest, though he can't cast it himself. It still takes pretty precise timing though, Mr. Journal. I'm not sure if I quite got the hang of it. I'll be sure to let him know if it saves my butt while he's gone, though. Gods, but I'm going to miss having him around, complaining and all. I sure hope he makes it back here in one piece.

Mark my words, Mr. Journal – if he dies out there, I'm going to sodding kill him for it.

* * *

A/N: And that's where we're leaving off! Tune in next time as the party sets off for adventure and Xan sets off for Evereska! See you then! Toodles!


	49. Chapter 49: Sod That Sodding Dwarf

A/N: Sorry for the wait! Now it's finally time for our heroes to get back on the road!

* * *

Day 103, Hour 23

We've finally made it to Beregost, Mr. Journal, and after a right exhausting trip too. Between xvarts, half-ogres, and rabid gibberlings, we have fought far too many things what want to kill us today for my liking. We've even suffered a casualty – Ajantis's poor, poor helmet is down for the count. After the pounding it took from that one half-ogre, the sodding thing's so dented that it's practically useless. We'll have to see if we can pick up a new one at the Thunderhammer Smithy tomorrow morning. Still, I guess it were good Ajantis were wearing the thing. After all, better his helmet than his head, right, Mr. Journal?

We're all six of us staying at Feldepost's Inn tonight, though I suppose we'll be five come tomorrow morning. That is when Xan's leaving, after all. I wanted to talk with him one last time before he left, but he's holed himself up in his room to study all night, and I'd rather not disturb him. Instead, I spent most of the night downstairs, drinking and talking with Immy about what kind of stuff we wanted to stock up on tomorrow, what the situation in Gullykin was like to be by now, and which way were the best to get there. You know, girl stuff.

Well, pretty soon, we were the last two down there, and we knew it was time to turn in for the night. So, we both stumbled up to our rooms, and that brings us to the now, Mr. Journal. And in the now, I'm right tired, so I'm going to try to sleep now. Good night.

* * *

Day 104, Hour 6

Morning, Mr. Journal. I think only about half of us are up right now, and even less of us are fully coherent. By which I mean me and Ajantis are the only ones down here in the common room, and he's staring half-asleep into his tea like it contains all the mysteries of the sodding multiverse. I kind of halfway want to shout something like "Look! An evildoer!" just to see if he even reacts.

Xan left about an hour ago, which is a part of why I'm already down here at the crack of dawn – I know the man starts his day early, and I wanted to be down here to see him off. Made him take about half of my healing potions with him, too – Gods know he'll need them.

Anyways, we're planning on going around the various shops in town this morning before heading off towards Gullykin, you know, to get some supplies. Mostly potions and ammo, that sort of thing, but we also need to get Ajantis a new helmet. Either way, should be simple enough. When next I write, we're like to be well on the way to Gullykin.

Day 104, Hour 21

I...think we're on the way to Gullykin? Well. Actually. I think we're in Larswood, which means Gullykin should be vaguely south of here, I think. Funny story, that. We kind of ended up going back north on the road towards the Friendly Arm before switching course to Gullykin. And all because we agreed to help some shifty dwarf what abandoned us before we were done with the task. Ugh. Sod that sodding dwarf, Mr. Journal.

It all started this morning, when our shopping trip went a bit off the rails. See, after picking up a helmet and some ammo, we headed to the Song of the Morning Temple to buy healing potions to replace the ones what I'd given to Xan. They were out of potions, though. The high priest there said another small group of adventurers had come in from the south not a few days ago and bought out his entire stock. There weren't much we could do but check the other shops in town.

We didn't find any healing potions in the other shops, but we did find Kagain. That's the shifty dwarf I were telling you about, Mr. Journal. Odd fellow, keeps referring to himself as "this dwarf," and gets a creepy glint in his eye every time someone mentions gold. He was running a shop, but he weren't selling anything, far as I could tell, aside from mercenary services. And that's where things got a bit thorny. See, he'd been hired to protect a caravan led by the son of some duke in Baldur's Gate, but it'd never pulled into town. So he asked us if we'd be interested in helping him find it for a bit of gold. Said it wouldn't take too long, that it went missing somewhere between the Friendly Arm and Beregost. We said that we'd help him out if he'd help us explore the Firewine Ruins and root out some kobolds – and that he'd get a cut of whatever we found down there. He agreed readily to those terms, and seemed right glad he didn't have to pay us in cash.

And that's how we ended up heading back north along the Coast Way, with Kagain leading the way. It weren't long before we found a ruined caravan just off the road. From the looks of it, though, it had been in ruins for a while, so it probably weren't the one what we were looking for. We did a quick sweep for clues, just in case it _was_ the right one, but pretty much everything there had already been picked clean by scavengers, likely bandits or xvarts. After a while, Kagain announced that we'd "searched this damn scrap heap" for long enough, and that we should move along.

Several hours later, we came across a second caravan. This one was bigger, but also looked ruined. There were dried blood on a lot of the crates and on the ground. During our investigation, we also found what looked to be a mound of gnawed bones piled up nearby. Whatever happened to that caravan, I don't think there were any survivors. I asked Kagain what he thought, but he weren't sure if this were the right one either. He also said he was tired of searching for the missing caravan, and wanted to stop. Gave up his mission, just like that.

That was when the xvarts charged out of the trees with their tiny pointy swords and shrieky shrilling battlecries. We all got ready for battle quick as we could! The fight weren't much to write about, as xvarts aren't exactly tough, but that's about when Kagain split. Just up and announced he was leaving and the partnership was over right in the middle of the battle and walked off. Abandoned us, just like that! Sod that sodding dwarf!

Anyways, it were only a bit past noon, and we still had most of the day ahead of us, so we all agreed it would only be a waste of time to head back to Beregost and postpone our trip by another day. Instead, we set off southeastish, hoping to take a more direct route to Gullykin.

Unfortunately, it looks like we overshot a bit and ended a little too north of our destination, here in the sodding Larswood. There's not much we can do about it right now, though, as it's late as all Hells. We've decided to set up camp for the night here and head south towards Gullykin in the morning. Sod it all, Mr. Journal. We'd likely be there, or at least close to there, by now, if we hadn't agreed to help that _sodding dwarf_. Gods, but I hope his next employer stiffs him but good! That'd show him.

Yeslick seems especially upset about what happened. He doesn't like the idea that one of his own kinsmen could do something do dishonest and dishonorable and whatnot. Honestly, I get the feeling that even if Kagain weren't a dwarf, Yeslick would be upset. I mean, after what happened with Rieltar, I imagine folks selling their companions out for profit would really rub him the wrong way. Well, I mean, it'd rub _anyone_ the wrong way, but Yeslick more than most. He's been pretty down about it all afternoon. I sure hope he doesn't stay too bothered by it for too long, Mr. Journal. That sodding shifty arsehole isn't worth his time or concern. Folks like that, you just gotta say "sod 'em" and move on.

But, enough of that, Mr. Journal. I should probably head off to my nice, warm bedroll now. We've got quite a ways to travel tomorrow.

* * *

Day 105, Hour 5

Gods, Mr. Journal! Talk about a rude awakening! This morning, we were roused from our sleep by a full on sodding _bandit attack_. From the symbol on their leathers, it looks like they're stragglers from Tazok's band what we didn't grind into the dust during our big raid on their camp. And boy, were they angry with us! From the things they were shouting, it was pretty clear they were out for revenge. And why wouldn't they be? We pretty much single-handedly ruined their entire sodding operation. Even with the element of surprise on their side, though, they weren't no match for us. I don't think they were counting on the HOLY RAGE of a cranky, half-asleep paladin. No, they were not prepared for that at all. There was so much smiting, Mr. Journal. So much.

I get the feeling that if I were more awake, I would be a bit more distressed at the sheer amount of _smiting_ what went on. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Mr. Journal, I don't think I'll ever get 100% used to violence. But honestly, right now, all I can think is "serves them right for waking me up in the middle of the first good dream I've had in months."

Oh, it were a real good dream, Mr. Journal. Immy and me were back in Candlekeep, and we'd never left, and Gorion was still alive, and we were planning our biggest prank on old Winthrop yet. It was going to be glorious. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face. But then those sodding bandits went and ruined it. They deserved every smite, Mr. Journal. Every. Last. Smite.

But I'm rambling, aren't I? Gods, but I'd give anything just to go back to sleep for a bit, but everyone else seems to have decided that since we're already up, we should make breakfast and then get ready to go, as we've got a lot of ground to cover. Even Immy, though she's only half awake and looks like she's only going through the motions. I'm pretty sure I just saw her pour water onto the ground right next to her cup. And now she's trying to drink from the empty cup, Mr. Journal. She looks right confused. Maybe I should say something.

I'm going to go say something. Write you later.

* * *

A/N: Aaaand that's what happens when you're an idiot and try to recruit an evil party member when you're at 20 reputation. Good job, team. Tune in next time as our heroes head for Gullykin, and possibly get even more lost before making it there. Toodles!


	50. Chapter 50: A Fortunate Detour

A/N: Sorry this took so long. Stuff's been happening IRL, and all. But here we go. The big five-oh. Are you excited? I'm excited!

* * *

Day 105, Hour 21

I think we may have gotten turned around during the day and ended up going north instead of south, Mr. Journal. It were right overcast most all afternoon, and the sun is just about the only way I know how to tell direction. I mean, usually it's not much of a problem, as generally if you keep walking in a straight line, you're going to stay going in the same direction and all. But these woods, all the trees look the sodding same. It probably happened when that sodding bear attacked us. We all had to scatter, and I may have picked the wrong direction once it were all over. Either way, this looks a lot more like the woods near the bandit camp than the area near Gullykin. Gods, but I wish Kivan were with us. He wouldn't have gotten us all turned around like this.

It weren't all bad, though – guess who we ran into out here? It's the drow lady what we saved from that Flaming Fist arsehole a moon or so back! Name of Viconia, remember? Apparently, she's been having a real rough time of it. She tried to find a place to stay in Beregost, but she were run out of town by an angry mob. Apparently, this is people's first reaction to seeing a dark elf. She doesn't understand it, says she only wants to have a chance, and honestly, Mr. Journal, neither do I. Just don't seem right to assume someone's evil just because of what they look like. She's asked to join up with us, as she's got nowhere else to go, and I agreed, as we're going to need all the help we can get if the Firewine Ruins are as deadly as people say. I suppose that's one good thing about Kivan not being here right now, as he'd never approve of this. Same for Xan, much as I already miss the guy. I mean, surface elves have got a world of problems with the drow. Something about an ancient curse what sent them to the Underdark or somesuch. I don't really keep up on elven politics.

Doesn't mean the decision didn't meet any opposition, though. In fact, Immy were the only one what was 100% for it. Ajantis is offended by the thought of traveling with someone who even might be evil, though he's agreed not to go pointing his sword at her unless she actually does something what proves him right. Yeslick doesn't really trust her all that much, as his clan has fought the drow once or twice in the past, but still ultimately agreed with my decision as he believes you can't judge an individual by their kin.

Rasaad initially didn't have much opinion on it, but he got real upset once we found out she were a follower of Shar. He said that Shar offered only false promises, and her lies served only to corrupt. Viconia were only amused by it all and said it were something a 'moon child' couldn't understand. Much as I really, really like Rasaad, Mr. Journal, and value his opinion, it just didn't seem right to me to judge someone before getting to know them. We're more than the gods we worship, after all. Just like that one little kid what followed Umberlee. She weren't the one at fault there, and we've got no proof Viconia's at fault here. She's been friendly enough so far, Mr. Journal, and besides, it kind of makes sense for her to worship Shar. I mean, if I were a drow living here on the surface, what with that sensitivity to light and all, then evil or not, I'd probably consider worshiping a goddess of nighttime and darkness and whatnot too.

Also, the gods are real petty, Mr. Journal. Again, the whole Umberlee thing really put that into perspective for me. I mean, if we went around having a beef with anyone what had marginally positive feelings toward stuff what our god had a beef with, none of us would have any friends, Mr. Journal. Either way, Rasaad ultimately agreed with my decision, says that maybe she just needs guidance though Viconia was pretty quick to scoff at _that_ idea. I really hope this is the right thing to do, Mr. Journal. It's just, we need the help, and I've not seen her do anything worse than be a bit rude once or twice. Something is just telling me we should give her this chance, you know? If it doesn't work out, we can always go our separate ways.

Anyways, we're all camped out for the night, and we'll get going again in the morning. Viconia's not too happy at the prospect of traveling in the sunlight but we're all dead tired and, I mean, we surfacers kind of like the light, you know. Immy's agreed to let her borrow her cloak and all, though, so that should give her some protection from the sun. Won't matter once we're down in the ruins, though.

Here's hoping everything works out, Mr. Journal. Good night.

* * *

Day 105, Hour 23

Nothing is working out, Mr. Journal.

Seems like right after we'd settled in for the night, we were attacked by another group of bandits! That's the second day in a row, and it's getting right old! Were a sight easier, though, what with six of us around instead of five, especially since Viconia were already awake and rested, being the sort that usually travels around at night. Still, I do wish they'd have the decency to let us sleep.

All right. For the second time tonight, Mr. Journal, good night. I swear, if we get woken up by bandits again, the first one to get in my range is getting a swift kick to the nads.

* * *

Day 106, Hour 7

Good morning, Mr. Journal! We're going to head out soon, right after we've got some food in us. Yeslick's making breakfast this morning, and Immy's helping out. Hopefully he'll be able to keep her from ruining everything. Rasaad seems to have got some wind back in his sails, and he's been earnestly talking Viconia's ear off all morning, trying to get her to convert. Judging from the look on her face, I'd say he's not getting that far. It's absolutely adorable how _into_ it he is, though.

I spent about the last hour talking to Ajantis, before he went off to practice his sword technique for a bit. Asked him about his training in Waterdeep. Turns out he trained under this real famous weaponmaster when he was younger, and for the past few years, he's been acting as a squire to an older paladin of his order, name of Keldorn Firecam. And, this whole quest of his to bring peace to this region? _Way_ more than just your run-of-the-mill paladin holy mission stuff. Apparently, Keldorn sent him on this mission, and his performance here will determine whether he can become a full-fledged member of the Order. Gods, but no wonder he's been so...so, uptight and bullheaded and whatnot – he's got a whole lot riding on this!

Well, I'm sure once all this is over, we'll have done enough good to get him into his order several times over. And I told him so, Mr. Journal. He's been grinning like a schoolkid ever since. Gods. I still can't believe that boy is two years older than me.

Anyways, I think I'll go help with breakfast, Mr. Journal. I know, I know, too many cooks in the kitchen and whatnot – or around the campfire, in this case – but Immy's got to count for like, at least one negative cook, so I'm pretty sure it'll average out.

* * *

Day 106, Hour 22

We have finally made it south of Peldvale, Mr. Journal. I don't know how the Hells we managed to get _that_ far off course, but we have now righted it, and are well on our way to Gullykin.

Today's travel was uneventful, a dreadful monotony broken only by Viconia's complaints about the sunlight and the occasional declaration from Ajantis that the forest had a sense of evil about it. Immy and me took to playing I Spy, but there are only so many things what you can spy in the woods without having to repeat yourself. Rock. Tree. Grass. Flower. Sky. Squirrel. Bird. Bug. Shrub. That's really about it while you're traveling through the less scenic stretches.

We've stopped and set up camp for the night, as we've been traveling for quite a bit. Immy and me have been listening to Viconia talk about what it were like living in the Underdark. She says that in drow society, the girls call all the shots and the guys do everything they say. Immy joked that from what she'd seen of the world outside Candlekeep, it were the same way up here, but the menfolk just didn't realize it. Might be a bit of truth to that, actually – seems to me we've overheard a lot of guys in towns talking about their relationships in a way what made it real clear their wives had them right under their thumb.

But I mean, we've still got kings, and dukes, and even all the mayors I've seen have been guys. In a drow city, all those leader types? They'd be girls. Would be right nice if it weren't for the brutality, Mr. Journal. Why, Viconia's descriptions of some of the barbaric stuff what goes on down there is enough to make a girl's blood curdle. Like, we're talking torture and murder bad. Did you know they turn people who screw up into twisted half man half spider things, if they don't kill them outright? That's creepy as all Hells. And they worship spiders! Who worships spiders, Mr. Journal? Spiders are terrible! I'm glad Viconia doesn't worship spiders. Shar seems mild by comparison.

Either way, it's just about time for me to hit the hay, Mr. Journal. Write you later.

* * *

Day 107, Hour 10

Morning. Sorry I didn't write you until so late, but it were my turn to get breakfast ready, so I were a bit busy. We're all settled down and eating now, though, so I've got some time. There's not all that much to report, but basically, we're still a couple days out from Gullykin and should make it there sometime tomorrow night.

In other news, Ajantis is bothering the Hells out of poor Viconia. He's gone all _inquisition_ on her and is asking her all sorts of questions trying to find out if she's really given up her _evil drow ways_. I've got to say, she's being a right good sport about it – she's mostly acting a bit annoyed and taking a couple of verbal potshots at him. Honestly, if I'd been in her shoes, I probably would've popped him one in the jaw by now.

Actually, I think I should go over there and intervene. He's taking this a bit too far, Mr. Journal. See you.

* * *

Day 108, Hour 1

We've covered quite a bit of ground today. Gullykin can't be far now! I am in complete shock and awe that we haven't run into a single thing what wanted to kill us for the last couple of days. I think that's a new record, Mr. Journal!

Luckily, that thing with Ajantis didn't end too badly. I stepped in, he grudgingly stepped down, and Viconia told me she was perfectly capable of handling it herself. You know, the whole song and dance. That weren't the end of the tension, though, as she got into an argument about religious philosophy with Rasaad later on the road. Gods, but I hope we all can learn to get along. I still give it pretty good chances, though. I mean, sometimes folks just need a little time to get to know each other, you know?

Anyways, we're now in that rocky area what we passed through once before when we were scouring the countryside for that mad cleric with the undead hordes. You know the place – we ended up looking in the wrong direction and running into more basilisks than we could count. We're going to have to be extra careful in case any more of those beasties are still lurking around – I've no desire to live out the rest of my days as a statue, Mr. Journal. Speaking of which, I've got second watch, so I should go and get what rest I can now.

* * *

Day 108, Hour 10

And a right good morning to you, Mr. Journal! We're just about ready to head out again, and this time, ain't nothing what can stop us! Gullykin is less than a day's walk away, now, and soon as we've cleared basilisk territory, the going should be easy!

Gods, Mr. Journal, but I hope we clear it quick, though. This place is loads more creepy by daylight than it is at night. Crumbling statues everywhere, and you just _know_ all of them used to be _alive_. I don't like it. Not one bit. All I can do is hope that, by the end of the day, we haven't joined them.

Wish us luck.

* * *

A/N: And there's where we'll stop for the night. As you may have already guessed, the OOC reason for this detour (explained in story as "Linn has a terrible sense of direction") is because I'm not dumb enough to take on Firewine with a party of five, and I forgot about that reputation thing. The only NPCs available to join me that weren't too far off the beaten path to still make the story make sense were evil, since I was a huuuuge flake back near the beginning of the game and accidentally sent Garrick off without recruiting him first to make sure he'd hang around Beregost and wait for me later (something I have regretted my entire playthrough, as I wanted to go back and pick him up at some point. Don't worry though, I've found a way to at least fit him back into the story later). With my high reputation, Viconia was basically the only one I knew wouldn't up and leave, thanks to the hit your rep takes when she joins you. So, here we are! Yay. Tune in next time as our heroes take on the Firewine Ruins in all their trapped, koboldy glory. Toodles!


	51. Chapter 51: Kobolds Round Every Corner

A/N: Hoo boy, I stayed up way later than I should have to finish this. I hope you're ready for the Firewine Ruins, because it's time for the sodding Firewine Ruins. Enjoy.

* * *

Day 108, Hour 22

Evening, Mr. Journal. We've just made it into Gullykin. Luckily, we ran into exactly zero basilisks on the way, thank Tymora for that. In fact, the journey were rather uneventful. Pretty soon, the plains all full of statues gave way to woods, and before I knew it, it were already nighttime, and there were Gullykin on the horizon.

We met with Mayor Luckyfoot soon after we set foot in the village. He says there have been several kobold raids since we left, and that he knows that they've got a base in the ruins, but he's got no idea how they're getting into town. We told him we'd set out for the ruins first thing tomorrow to investigate. The halflings in town were a bit alarmed to see a drow among us at first, but they welcomed Viconia soon as we vouched for her. She were right surprised at how quickly they warmed up to her after that. It were almost like she couldn't figure out whether to be pleased or a bit uncomfortable about it.

There's no inn here in the village, but the priests at the temple have been kind enough to let us bed down in their basement for the night, so long as we don't disturb any of the wine. They've even shared some of their food with us! Everyone is so nice here, Mr. Journal. Gods, but I hope we can put an end to their troubles.

It's real cozy in here. I'm a bit surprised, considering wine cellars tend to be a bit less hospitable than this, as wine is usually best stored in conditions that are, well, slightly less comfortable. Yeslick is especially happy with the place. Says he's always preferred being in a more closed-in place like this to wandering the vast outdoors. Viconia agrees with him, though she thinks the room could stand to be a bit less bright. It _is_ rather well lit for a wine cellar, Mr. Journal, but I think that's part of what makes it so nice. Anyways, I'd better turn in for the night. We're like to have our work cut out for us tomorrow.

* * *

Day 109, Hour 8

Gods, Mr. Journal! We were attacked by kobolds last night! They, they just showed up in the wee hours, and...Gods. It were a good thing Viconia only rests for a few hours each night and were wide awake when they showed up, or else we would have been done for. The fight were over pretty quick, but the clamor woke up the priests and they came rushing down to see what had happened. Caused quite a stir, as kobolds had never gotten inside the temple before. They even woke up Mayor Luckyfoot and brought him down here to survey the damage.

After a bit of sleuthing, it were clear they'd come up from the secret door in the cellars. The priests confirmed that it did in fact lead into the Firewine Ruins, but that they'd always kept the thing locked, and didn't know how it ended up unlocked.

...I knew, though. And judging from the look on her face, Immy knew, too. I remember the last time we passed through here, she unlocked it, wanted to look inside. And I just stood there and watched. Either way, we didn't say anything. Just helped the priests re-lock the thing. After all, weren't no harm done. The priests say this is the first time the kobolds have gotten into the temple, which means they got in some other way during the first two raids. And since we took care of this group, it means there were no real harm done from the whole thing. That and, well, honestly, this one is mostly on Immy. She's the one what unlocked it, and I didn't have no active part in it, even if I didn't do nothing to stop it, neither. Which means I've got no business ratting her out. Confessing my own mistakes is one thing, but pointing fingers at someone else is another. If she thinks it's best to tell them, she will. That's what I think.

Anyways, after we sealed that door up but good, we all went back to sleep for a bit, as we were right exhausted. Woke up again about an hour ago. We had breakfast with the priests, and then started preparing for our foray into the ruins. We've talked it over with the mayor, and he agrees it may be faster to use the secret door in the temple to enter the ruins, rather than travel to the main entrance. Besides, if the kobolds are getting into the village through the ruins, we're more likely to find out where they're coming from if we start in the portion of the ruins near the village.

Luckily, we were actually able to restock here this morning – the temple's got a huge supply of healing potions, and we bought enough to totally replenish our supply. It were a real relief, after not being able to get any back in Beregost. We're back down in the wine cellar now, doing a final equipment check before heading down into the ruins. One of the priests is standing guard by the door – says he'll seal the thing after we go down. Precautions to make sure no more kobolds get in, and all. If we absolutely have to get back in, we're to knock on the door three times. That way, the halflings will know it's us and not some kobolds.

I'm a bit nervous, Mr. Journal. I've heard all sorts of rumors about these ruins, and most of them aren't good. If even half of them are true, we're in for a real rough time. Tymora preserve us.

* * *

Day 109, Hour 15

We have _not_ had a good time these past few hours, Mr. Journal. The halflings were not kidding when they said there were a lot of kobolds down there. It might be more accurate to say there were swarms of kobolds. Endless kobolds. So many kobolds I don't know how they all fit into a ruin that size. You cut two down, and five more come out of a tunnel you thought you just secured! It were almost like they were coming straight out of thin air, Mr Journal! I'm still not entirely convinced they're not. We're out of the ruins now, and in sight of the Firewine Bridge. Half our group is pretty badly hurt, but at least we made it out alive. I've got to admit, for a while there, I didn't think we would. It really were _that bad_.

I certainly never would have expected that many kobolds from the way our investigation started. In fact, we didn't meet a single kobold down there for the first hour or so. It were dark down there, and right quiet. Also, real cramped and narrow. In most of the halls, you could barely even walk two abreast, and that were only if you squeezed in real close to someone. It were real claustrophobic, and the way the passages twisted and branched all mazelike gave me right terrible flashbacks to that sodding icy rock we got trapped on a tenday back. Yeslick and Viconia were both happy as clams to be underground, though. Yeslick were even whistling a jaunty little tune as we inched down the hallways step by step, waiting for Immy to look for traps ahead. He told me the place reminded him of the tunnels of his clan, though I certainly don't remember the Cloakwood mines being _this_ creepy.

Anyways, yeah, there were no kobolds around at first. Just traps. Gods, but there were so many traps. It's a good thing Immy is so great at disarming them, because let me tell you, there were _so many sodding traps_. To hear Immy tell what she'd seen of them, it sounds like most of them were right nasty, too. Some of them might've even killed us outright if she hadn't found them and taken them apart first.

After a while of crawling down all those twisty hallways like a bunch of sodding rats, we came to this small room with a pillar in the middle of it, and there were a big group of ghostly figures in there, and soon as they noticed us, they started chanting these words:

Together enter, together fall.  
That was the vow agreed.  
None will leave until all are one.  
Such as the vow remains.  
We must be one.

Um. At least. Something like that. I might have gotten one or two words wrong. I can't remember it exactly, you know. If I could remember everything everyone said ever, word for word, well, it would be a lot easier to tell stories. But there would also be a lot more words bouncing around in my head and I imagine it would get right tiring after a while. So, all in all, I'm glad I can't. But, you know what I _did_ remember, Mr. Journal? I remembered that other bard we met the first time we passed by the Firewine Bridge, and I remembered the story he told. One about knights who went down into the ruins and died after one among their number betrayed them. So, I told the others the story, at least, what I could remember of it. After all, only Immy and Rasaad had been there when we first heard it. We met the others after that.

It were pretty clear then what needed to happen. We needed to find that one traitor from the story. The knights couldn't move on until all of them were reunited, after all. Everyone agreed helping these spirits move on were the right thing to do, so we decided to keep an eye out for the missing knight as we moved onward. Well, except Viconia. I mean, she didn't exactly say anything against the decision, but I'm pretty sure I caught her rolling her eyes as we left the room.

As we turned the corner, I were pretty sure I heard an eagle or some other bird of prey crying in the distance, but it were probably just in my head. After all, it would be right strange for a bird to be underground. I kept my mouth shut about it, as I didn't want the others to think I were losing my mind or anything.

Soon after that, we finally ran into some kobolds. The little buggers jumped us as we turned a corner, and one of them shot a flaming arrow right into Immy's shoulder. I reacted right quick, Mr. Journal. Shot him full of magic missiles before he could do anything more to hurt Immy. The rest of them went down when Rasaad rushed them. Gods, but he's so amazing, Mr. Journal. You should have seen him moving like lightning straight toward them. They never stood a chance. We ran into another small group of them just around the next corner, but Ajantis and Yeslick took them out, working in perfect unison. Those two have been getting along real well lately. It's nice. They act almost like they've been friends their whole lives. You should have heard them complimenting each other on a job well done after they took down those kobolds. It were really cute, Mr. Journal.

We stopped after that while Viconia healed Immy's arrow wound, only for _more sodding kobolds_ to rush us from behind! It were ridiculous. Luckily, I were near the back of the group at the time, so I BOSSHAMMERED them into the ground right quick. But right as I finished with those, more rushed us from the front! It were absolutely _ridiculous_ , Mr. Journal! Ajantis charged forward to take them out, and pushed them back into the next corridor. When we ran forward to join him in the fight, we found the kobolds dead and Ajantis standing face to face with a heavily armored skeleton. The two of them were talking, though I only caught a few snippets of their conversation. Something about the skeleton wanting Ajantis to end something. Before I could puzzle out what that meant, Ajantis and the skeleton locked blades in one hell of an impressive sword fight.

After it were over, he explained to us what had happened. Turns out the skeleton was the traitor knight, and he deeply regretted what he'd done. He'd asked Ajantis to strike him down and bring his armor back to his companions, so they could move on to the afterlife. So, we helped Ajantis remove the armor from what was left of the skeleton and headed back to the room where we'd first met the ghostly knights.

As soon as we entered the room with that armor, all the other knights seemed overcome with relief. They looked just about as relieved as a ghost covered entirely in armor could look, which is a lot more than you'd think. They all chanted something again, this time about being completed and free and all, and then, they disappeared. I suppose they were all able to move on. Felt right good, Mr. Journal. We did a good thing today. If we ever run into that bard again, I should let him know how the story ends.

Of course, the warm fuzzy feelings didn't last long, as after that, it were right back to searching the ruins to find out where all those sodding kobolds were coming from. And that meant more traps and _more sodding kobolds_. It were real terrifying. Even before they started really swarming us, you could hear them, Mr. Journal. Scurrying around through nearby hallways that you had no way of knowing whether or not they were connected to the one you were in. When the attacks started, they were in small groups, mostly, and there were usually some time in between fights. But they started getting more and more frequent, and before we knew it, they were attacking us from all sides, coming out of all corridors, and showing up in places we'd just checked only minutes earlier. It were almost like someone or something were conjuring them up straight out of thin air.

Long story short, tons of kobolds and traps later, we found ourselves completely surrounded in a small room right at the center of the maze. There were kobolds pouring in from every direction and we were already in bad shape as we'd been chased by a group of the little sods right into a trap what magic missiled the shite out of us and then, as if that weren't already bad enough, gotten pincushioned by their _sodding flaming arrows_. We'd fled from them back to the room, which we'd been in not thirty minutes before, only to find kobolds swarming in from all sides, coming in through passageways where they had no business being. I thought it were all over then, Mr. Journal. We were in no shape to stand and fight them all. Hells, Ajantis was already near death's door, needed Rasaad's help to even walk. If it weren't for Viconia's spells, we would have died long before that. One cleric just weren't enough, Mr. Journal. I sure am glad we brought her along.

Anyways, it were about then Yeslick spotted a hallway with much fewer kobolds than the others, and he shouted at us to break through. He didn't need to tell me twice. We rushed the handful of kobolds in that hallway, bursting through their ranks, and we didn't stop running. We couldn't stop running, else it would all be over. A few twists later, by what I'm convinced can only be Tymora's grace, we ran straight into a hallway with stairs going up at the end of it. We rushed up the stairs, with Rasaad pulling Ajantis along, and the next thing we knew, we were greeted by the open air. A couple of the kobolds followed us up, but we made short work of them as we had the high ground.

After that, we looked around for somewhere to lick our wounds. We ran into one kobold patrol before we got anywhere, but they weren't near as well equipped as the ones down in the ruins. They're not much of a threat without those flaming arrows, Mr. Journal. After that, we managed to find a small alcove in between several ruined walls where we could hide from the kobold patrols. Yeslick and Viconia have had their hands full with healing ever since we stopped, especially with the condition Ajantis is in. Viconia has been complaining the whole time about how it weren't even half a day before we ended up chased out of the ruins and were stuck back out under the sun again, and how she wished we could have spent more time underground. Yeslick's just been nodding in agreement to her tirade this entire time while he does his healing. It's nice they've found something they can agree on, even if it's about being complete weirdos who like cramped, creepy underground tunnels.

Anyway, we've decided there's no way we're going back down there without any idea what to look for. Those kobolds aren't gonna get any less numerous unless we find out where they're all coming from, and honestly, I doubt it's something as simple as them moving into the ruins. Immy thinks it's something most unnatural, and I think I might agree with her. Once we're rested up, we're returning to Gullykin – over the land, of course, and not back through those sodding ruins – to report to Mayor Luckyfoot and do some investigating in the village. It might be easier to find out what's up with these kobolds if we can find out where they're getting into the village from. And, we're probably going to be a lot more likely to make it out alive if we conduct our investigation topside. We've just learned that much the hard way.

Gods, but I hope we can resolve this without getting ourselves arse-deep in kobolds again. A few more attacks like that, and I may end up even more terrified of the little buggers than Xan is. Gods, I never thought I'd be saying this so emphatically, but it _really_ is a right good thing he's not with us right now. He'd be completely flipping his shite by now if he were. All these sodding kobolds. Anyways, speaking of kobolds, it's time for me to take over Immy on watch duty and make sure none of those little yapping arseholes find us back here. Talk to you later.

* * *

A/N: And that's where we're stopping for the night. A short note about that bit about Linn hearing a bird of prey in the ruins - I debated whether or not to leave that in. I'm not sure if it was a glitch or what, but in-game one of the ghostly knights kept making eagle noises. It was pretty ridiculous and I did a double take the first time I heard it. I kind of wanted to find some way to put it in because it amused me while I was playing. Ahem. Anyways. Tune in next time as our heroes return to Gullykin and find out what the Hells is up with all these kobolds! See ya!


	52. Chapter 52: A Magical Mystery

A/N: Sorry for the wait, y'all. I just had a hell of a time writing both last chapter and this chapter, because honestly the Firewine Ruins quest is so dang _boring_ and poorly designed, and I had one hell of a time trying to write it in a not-boring way and turn it into a halfway decent narrative. Hopefully, future chapters will be a lot easier to write than this was. This quest just does _not_ lend itself well to writing, and I actually had to spend a lot of time brainstorming, editing multiple times, all that kind of stuff. That, and just getting up the motivation to write about something that had been so dang _boring_ to play through. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, though, and I hope you are too.

* * *

Day 110, Hour 5

Morning, Mr. Journal. Um. Is it really morning, though, if you can't see the sun yet? I'm not sure. But, it is getting lighter, so I suppose it's close enough. Either way, we've had one heck of a night. Between kobold patrols and skeletons, we've had our hands right full.

The kobolds are near as endless up here as they were down there, though it looks like they send the weaker ones to patrol the surface. They all seem to be coming up from the ruins on this end, too. Odd, that. They have to be getting into the ruins from somewhere. If not here or Gullykin, then where? Gods, Mr. Journal, this mystery just gets stranger and stranger. Curiouser and curiouser, even. A few of the patrols actually managed to spot us throughout the day, and Rasaad, Immy, and me had to fight them off as Yeslick and Viconia were still busy healing themselves and Ajantis.

And, as if the kobolds weren't enough, we were attacked by skeletons in the middle of the night! Gods, but I'm glad we've got two clerics with us. They just flash their holy symbols and the undead go running. I've always wondered why that works, Mr. Journal. Maybe skeletons just really don't like religion?

Either way, the horde of skeletons were far less deadly than they could have been, thanks to Viconia and Yeslick. Still woke us up in the middle of the night, though, which weren't fun. I didn't get near enough sleep after that, but that didn't stop me from waking up before the sun did. Gods. I'd go back to sleep, but I don't think I can. All these attacks have set my teeth on edge, they have.

The others are still asleep, excepting Viconia, as drow do the same not-sleep thing what surface elves do. I can't blame them. I'm sure they're all exhausted. I know I am. We'll probably be heading back to Gullykin once everyone is up, though I'm not sure how long that will be. I mean, the sun's not even up yet, Mr. Journal. Gods, but I have some time to kill. Suppose I should try to get the old creative juices flowing. Haven't had a chance to do that in a while.

* * *

Day 110, Hour 6

Deep down in the darkness  
Among traps in narrow halls,  
We can hear the tapping footsteps,  
Muffled yips and yaps and growls.

The path behind is empty -  
We can't see the path ahead.  
We can feel their eyes upon us  
With a sense of mounting dread.

They come from every crack,  
Each nook and cranny, every pass.  
Soon they'll have us all surrounded  
And this day could be our last.

I don't know where they're coming from,  
I don't know where they've been,  
I don't know where they are now,  
But they want to do us in.

There's something strange about this  
Horde of kobolds in the dark.  
It's as if they've come from nowhere,  
Just been kindled, like a spark.

Somewhere deep, this mystery  
Is waiting to be solved  
And I know we have to find it now -  
We're too deeply involved.

* * *

Day 110, Hour 7

As all enter, all remain as one.  
Until all exit, out again, as one.  
Made an oath, as one.  
Six remain as one.

Yet, one is not as one.  
By one, the oath undone.  
Until the one returns to one,  
All must remain as six, undone.

Until what's done has been undone  
They must remain until they're one  
And one rejoins the six, as one.

* * *

Day 110, Hour 9

We're about to head out towards Gullykin now, Mr. Journal. Everyone's finally up, and we've all got some food in our bellies, though we couldn't start a cookfire for fear of alerting the sodding kobolds. Trail rations aren't the most tasty thing to eat, but at least they're filling enough. I'll write you again once we're back in town. Here's hoping we don't have to fight our way through too many kobolds on the way there.

* * *

Day 110, Hour 14

Hello again, Mr. Journal. We've made it back to Gullykin in one piece, and after we're done with lunch, we're going to start our investigation. We need to figure out how these kobolds got into town on their last two raids – that should point us to where we need to go. We spoke with Mayor Luckyfoot as soon as we got back, but he's got no idea how the kobolds could be swarming down there in such great numbers either. He suggested that if we're going to question the townsfolk, we should start with the guards outside town, as they're Gullykin's first line of defense, and are the ones who rushed in to drive the kobolds out during the last two attacks.

The journey back here was, luckily, not too eventful. Didn't get attacked by any kobolds or anything. We did get approached by some guy what had real greasy hair and an even greasier smile who said his name was Meilum, and claimed he was the strongest and most famous swordsman on the whole of the Sword Coast. I'd never heard of him, but I admit I don't know all that much about local celebrities, so I just sort of smiled and nodded, told him it were an honor to meet him, and all that. I tried to ask him what such a great hero as he were out here for, and if he knew anything about the kobolds, but he just gave me his autograph and launched into a long, melodramatic speech about how it were so hard to be famous. Then he ran off before I could say anything, shouting that he had important hero stuff to do. After he were out of earshot, I asked the others, and none of them had ever heard of him either. So, either we've all been living under a rock, or that man was sodding full of it.

Aside from that little encounter, though, the rest of it were just a lot of boring walking. But, honestly, after getting ambushed by kobolds six ways to seventh-day yesterday, boring were a nice change of pace.

Anyways, everyone looks like they're just about finished with their food, so I should probably put you away for now, Mr. Journal. Wish us luck.

* * *

Day 110, Hour 18

Gods, but no wonder the kobolds were so sodding thick down in those ruins! Turns out there were an ogre mage down there what had been summoning them to attack the halflings and lure helpful adventurers like us into the ruins so he could kill them and take their stuff! He won't be doing any of that no more, Mr. Journal. But, you probably want to know how we managed to figure this all out, huh? So, let me tell you our awesome detective story.

We started our investigation out by asking the guards on the edge of town about the raids, just like Mayor Luckyfoot had suggested. Turns out, both times, none of the guards saw a single kobold until the attack was already in full swing. Wouldn't have even gotten there in time to drive the little buggers off if they hadn't heard the screams. So, wherever the kobolds were getting in, it were from somewhere inside the village.

Well, I was right worried when that conclusion came to light, Mr. Journal. After all, the only passageway into the ruins we knew about in town were the one in the temple what Immy had unlocked. So, we went back to the temple to talk to the priests, with my heart feeling like it were made of lead the whole way over there. From the look on Immy's face, I'm pretty sure she felt the same way.

The priests confirmed for a second time that they'd never seen any kobolds in the temple before the night we spent in the wine cellar, and reassured us that if any kobolds had tried to come through there into the village, the night watch would have stopped them. Apparently they've got at least one priest minding the temple at all times, even in the wee hours. That were a relief, but little did I know this mystery was about to get real confusing – the big picture we got after interviewing the townsfolk just looked like one big fat contradiction!

Here's the basic gist of it, Mr. Journal. No one in town knew of any entrances to the ruins beside the one in the temple, and, on top of that, nearly all of the villagers said they'd seen the kobolds coming from west to east, meaning they likely came from the direction of the temple. The priests stuck by what they'd told us earlier, though, that no kobold could have come from the temple without them noticing. We ended up just sitting around in the town square thinking, and let me tell you, Mr. Journal, I was near completely stumped! Couldn't think of a single possibility!

We probably would've just been stuck there if Viconia hadn't spoken up.

She said that we surfacers were too simple-minded, and that back down in her drow city with the really long name I can't pronounce, if you couldn't predict a rival house's next move you were as good as dead. In times like this, she said, you have to learn to think like your enemy. In this case, whoever were commanding the kobolds. Definitely not the kobolds themselves. I absolutely did not misunderstand and ask why we had to think like kobolds, and she definitely did not have to correct me. That is not a thing that happened, Mr. Journal. Nope. Not at all.

Anyways, she sort of guided me through the process from there. Told me to imagine it were up to me to sneak a bunch of kobolds into this town, and then asked me how I'd manage that. I were able to eliminate a straightforward approach, as the guards would catch that. And, the temple passage were too well-guarded, as well. So, the only other way to get them in, far as I could see, were through another secret passage. But, as the townsfolk didn't know of a second way into the ruins, it'd have to be somewhere that weren't easy to discover, like an abandoned building or something.

Well, we asked around, and it turned out there were one house just north of the temple what no one had lived in for a real long time, so we went to check it out. I felt so smart as we headed toward that house, Mr. Journal. I thought I had it all figured out.

I didn't.

We must have turned that house upside down five times over, and we didn't find a thing. No secret passages, no nothing! I was right frustrated, I was. Even kicked a chair over. All that and we still had nothing, Mr. Journal! I got real upset, shouted at Viconia that I couldn't think of anything else, threw a right temper tantrum, I did! Viconia, though, she was completely unfazed. Maybe even a bit amused. She sure was smiling, I can tell you that. She just grinned and said, "That's because you're still thinking like a do-gooder."

She told me not to be afraid to use people, because our enemy wouldn't have no qualms about it. And when I heard that, it clicked. They had a man on the inside. It were the only explanation left. Of course, that left the question of what to do with that information. I mean, we couldn't just go barging into everyone's house left and right, demanding to search every sodding inch of the place. Immy and Ajantis agreed with me that it didn't seem real nice – Ajantis even went so far as to call it "counter to the path of righteousness" - but they both couldn't really think of any other way to do it. None of the others piped up with any bright ideas, neither. In the end, we just decided to search the houses closest to the temple first, as that were the most likely place for the kobolds to be coming from. That way, we'd at least avoid disrupting the afternoon of every halfling in the sodding village.

The halflings at the first house were real nice and cooperative, though definitely a bit upset at being under suspicion. When we approached the next house, though, no one answered the door, and when we knocked, it just swung open from the pressure. Hadn't even been locked. It were quiet inside. Weirdly quiet. And there were a smell coming from inside what I couldn't quite place – musky and unpleasant, but real faint. The place were right suspicious, Mr. Journal, so we decided to go inside. Figured that if we met the owner, we could just explain what was going on and move forward from there.

The ground floor were completely empty, so we headed down toward the basement. As we went down the stairs, the smell got stronger, and I knew what it was. I'd smelled it before, back in the Nashkel Mines, and just a few days ago down in the ruins, too.

 _Kobolds._

There weren't any of them waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs, but their smell were everywhere, thick in the air. The owner of the house, a squat little halfling fellow with shifty, beady eyes, were down there, sitting on a sofa, and he got up with a start when he saw us come in the room. He advanced on us all menacing-like and straight up threatened to kill us if we didn't leave right away. Didn't even ask what we were doing here. Of course, we didn't leave. Immy stepped forward, putting on her scariest face in return, and asked him about the kobold smell. After that, he admitted to letting kobolds into the village, but said we wouldn't live to tell anyone else. Then, he charged at us, three feet of concentrated fury. Ajantis smote him dead with holy might before the guy could even touch us.

After that, we searched the room, and Viconia found a secret door behind one of the bookcases. We went through and found ourselves in a small, dark chamber with nothing in it but a ladder leading down through a hole in the floor. We climbed down, and, just as we expected, found ourselves back in the Firewine Ruins. The ogre mage what was waiting for us at the bottom were a sight less expected, though. He looked at us with this big, ugly, toothy grin and said that we'd fallen right into his trap, and he'd have even more fun killing us than he had killing the halflings.

Of course, like any good villain, he had to dedicate some time to monologuing at us about his Brilliant Evil Plans, which, like I mentioned before, involved summoning a shite-ton of kobolds and using them to terrorize Gullykin and lure adventurers here what wanted to put an end to the halflings' plight. After that, he'd kill them, take their stuff, and split the take with the guy in the house above. And now, it were our turn to make him richer. Not.

He started chanting a spell at us near right away after that. From the gestures and incantation, it looked to be a wide-area enchantment spell, something what could easily incapacitate us all at once if it hit. Well, I acted right away, Mr. Journal, near on instinct, same as I'd practiced loads of times – I threw a Magic Missile at him. When it hit, he stumbled a bit and lost focus, and his spell fizzled. Once he regained his composure, he geared up for another big spell, and I hit him with another Magic Missile. Meanwhile, Ajantis and Yeslick had rushed in to attack, and Immy were firing arrows like crazy. And the ogre mage? He never once thought to switch over to physical combat and use that perfectly good BOSSHAMMER he were carrying. Nope. Not even once. He just kept trying to cast those spells he were so proud of, and I stopped. Every. Single. One. That ogre never stood a chance, Mr. Journal. I'll have to let Xan know that the magic interruption trick he taught me before he left really _did_ end up saving our arses.

After that were over, we found that the ogre mage had stashed a ridiculous amount of gold over in the corner of the room. Naturally, we took it. Not like he was going to need it where he was going. Then, we went back up topside and told Mayor Luckyfoot what had happened. He were right upset to hear that one of his own neighbors had betrayed the village, but was relieved that Gullykin's kobold troubles were at an end. He thanked us and gave us a bit of gold as a reward. Right nice of him, that.

Several other halflings have come to thank us throughout the day and one of them, a retired adventurer with a lot of stories to tell, has offered to let us stay the night in his home. We've taken him up on his offer, so we won't be heading back to the Friendly Arm until tomorrow. Just as well, as we would get in a day early if we left now. We're in his basement now, sitting by the fire, and it's right cozy in here. He says we can swap tales over dinner tonight, which I'm real excited for! I love hearing stories, Mr. Journal! I'll be sure to relay them to you when I write you again in the morning. See you then!

* * *

A/N: And there we go! Firewine Ruins quest finished! Done! Behind us! I am actually really proud of this chapter, it was a pain to write but I am really enjoying reading through it now. Fun fact, I know the ogre mage was casting an enchantment spell, specifically Chaos, because my first attempt ended in a TPK. The second attempt is when I just didn't give Linn any commands at the beginning of the fight so she could be free to disrupt all his spells with Magic Missiles as soon as he started casting, because I am NOT dealing with Chaos. Anyway, tune in next time as our heroes check back in at the Friendly Arm and then set out for their second tenday of downtime! Toodles!


	53. Chapter 53: One More Tenday

A/N: Sorry for the wait! These "Checking In" chapters always take so much longer to write because there's barely any gameplay to go off of, so when I write up notes during my playthrough, they tend to be shorter. Stretching like a paragraph or two of notes into four pages of writing is never an easy task.

* * *

Day 111, Hour 8

Good morning, Mr. Journal! Oh, but last night were a good night! Full of food, stories, and cheer! This halfling what let us stay the night, name of Rainier, he's a real good cook, he is. And an even better adventurer, back in his day. He's been all over Faerun! He told us a real epic story about the greatest adventure he'd ever been on – a few decades ago, he joined up with some adventurers in Luskan and headed north to answer a call to arms from Ten-Towns up in Icewind Dale. They ended up in Targos fighting this ridiculously large horde of goblins, and things just got out of hand from there. That's a pun, by the way – the epic battle at the end of their journey took place in a tower shaped like a giant hand. Haha. Get it?

...Okay, yeah, you're right, that was bad.

Anyway, they ended up pitted against this group called the Legion of the Chimera what were made up of monstrous creatures from all over the realms what wanted to live in peace but ended up declaring war on Ten-Towns because the mayor of Bryn Shander were a huge arsehole. The adventure took the group all over the place – Rainier told us about a choked-up river with fire on the horizon, a towering fortress full of goblins, and a temple carved straight into the side of a great iceberg. He even rode in a ship what flew through the sky! I can hardly even imagine! I mean, it crashed, and his group were stranded in an icy wasteland and had to go down into the Underdark to find a way back where they'd come from, but still! They even went through a portal and ended up in Chult once! Gods, but I only hope after this is all over our adventures are half as interesting in the telling.

He didn't seem to mind the smaller scope of our travels, though, when we told him our stories in exchange for his. He seemed just as much on the edge of his seat listening to us as we'd been listening to him. All in all, it were a great night. I haven't had a night so full of stories since I were back in the library at Candlekeep.

It's morning now, though, and time to move on. Rainier has insisted we join him for breakfast before we leave, but after that, it's back to Beregost for us, and to the Friendly Arm after that. It's been nearly a tenday, and we need to go back to meet with the others.

* * *

Day 111, Hour 23

Gods, but it's late, Mr. Journal. We just now made it into Beregost, and I think I'm just about ready to drop! We've booked some rooms in the Jovial Juggler for the night, and it's taking near all my willpower not to drop you right now and pass out on the bed. But, I've got to record the day's events, Mr. Journal. Those are the rules, after all. What rules? Why, my rules, of course! Got to do something to keep myself from slacking on the record-keeping and all so I got something to remember this by when I'm old.

We left Gullykin in the late morning. Nearly the entire town came out to see us off. It were a bit of a shock, really. I mean, all we did was get rid of some kobolds and an ogre mage, and they're treating us like great heroes or something. It were right nice of them to give us such a big send-off either way, though. Everyone in that town is real nice. I hope things go well for them in the future.

The trek through the woods back to Beregost were long and dangerous. Also, loud. Viconia would not stop complaining about the sodding sun. I admit, it's one of the brightest days I've seen since she joined, but you'd think she would have started to get used to it after being on the surface for several months like she has. Being a drow must suck. You know what else sucks, though? Being ambushed by hobgoblins. Did I mention we got ambushed by hobgoblins? One minute we're walking through the forest, birds are singing, and everything's all calm and peaceful-like, and the next, we've got arrows flying at us from the bushes! Immy barely managed to dive out of the way of two of them, one caught Yeslick in the shoulder, and that was before the fight had even started! By the time we managed to take down the last of those buggers, half of us looked like so many sodding pincushions. Luckily, we've got two healers with us and none of the hobgoblins were using poisoned arrows, but all in all it was not one of our best performances. At least we all made it to Beregost in one piece, thank Tymora.

Anyways, now that you're all good and caught up, I'm going to hit the hay. It's been a long, long day.

* * *

Day 112, Hour 8

Morning, Mr. Journal. We're just finishing up breakfast, and then we'll head for the Friendly Arm Inn. I wish I could say it's been a normal, boring morning so far, but no such luck. Ajantis got into an argument with that drunk paladin what's always hanging around the bar in here and they've been in a shouting match ever since. Something about what is and isn't the appropriate way for a holy knight to act. It's right embarrassing, it is. Everyone's staring at us, Mr. Journal. I don't like it one bit. I...think I'll put you away for now. It feels weird to write with everyone's eyes on us like this. It feels weird to do _anything_ with everyone's eyes on us like this. I'm not even sure if I can finish eating.

* * *

Day 112, Hour 22

We're all safe and sound at the Friendly Arm now, and we've got our next tenday all planned out! And the best part is, by the time we get back here again, the gates to Baldur's Gate are like to be open at long last! Ooh, I can't wait, Mr. Journal! It's all so exciting!

We left the Jovial Juggler soon after I last wrote, and let me tell you, after what Ajantis pulled, I were right glad to get out of that den of awkwardness. The trip to Beregost were pretty easy, and we didn't really run into any trouble. Though I did see two squirrels chittering angrily at each other up in a tree by the side of the road. I wonder what they were arguing about. Nuts, probably. That seems to be a thing squirrels would care about. Erm. Anyway. The sky were overcast most the entire day, much to Viconia's relief. Immy also took the opportunity to make a few lighthearted cracks at me about getting lost and ending up in Larswood, even though there were next to no chance of that happening this time, not with the road right there. Everyone laughed. It were terrible, Mr. Journal! A great offense to my honor, and all that other melodramatic bunk.

When we made it into the common room at the Friendly Arm, everyone else were already there waiting for us. Well. Except Xan, but seeing as he's not due in for another five or six days, that weren't at all surprising. There actually _were_ news of him, though. Couple of elves what came here from Silverymoon have been staying in the inn for the last few days. They say they were attacked by bandits on the road just south of the Serpent Hills several days back, and they would have been done for if not for a moonwarrior what stepped in and saved them. Apparently he used a fear spell on the bandits and they all ran off screaming. I talked to them for a bit, and from their descriptions of the guy – especially the part where he told them not to thank him because they were probably doomed not to reach their destination anyway and some other obstacle would probably come up later what he wouldn't be around to help them with – they were definitely talking about Xan. I'm glad to hear he at least made it through the first few days of his journey all right, and it were a right nice thing of him to do, helping these people and all. I only hope he made it to Evereska safe. Gods, but I'm still worried.

Oh. I guess I should probably mention that the Neera army's not around right now, either. I asked old Bentley about it, and he said they'd gone on an expedition to the Ulcaster Ruins. Apparently, the place used to be a real famous school before it were abandoned and fell into disrepair. It doesn't have near the same sinister reputation as Durlag's Tower does for eating adventurers alive, so hopefully Neera and her clones will be a bit more successful this time. No such luck with that sodding half-orc, though. He were right there in the common room the whole time, and it were all I could do to try to avoid him. Gods, but I wish our paths would stop crossing.

Um, anyways, where was I? Oh, right. Touching base with the others. Khalid and Jaheira report that everything still seems to be going forward right on schedule, and Baldur's Gate is like to open the gates sometime in the next tenday or so. Kivan and Branwen still haven't found any leads on Tazok, though it sounds like the bandit death toll is on the rise thanks to them. At this rate, they're going to hunt the entire bandit population into extinction within a couple moons. Boy, I'd love to see the looks on those Iron Throne guys' faces when they hear that even the _stragglers_ from their operation are getting decimated by a priest and one very angry elf. And, speaking of how angry Kivan is, you should have seen his face when we walked through that door with Viconia in tow. The man practically iced over when he saw her. I swear, Mr. Journal, you could even feel it get colder in the common room as he walked over to us. He demanded to know what we were doing traveling with a drow, so me and Immy told him the whole story, though there weren't all that much to tell.

Well, he didn't like that one bit, and he sure let us know it. Told us Viconia's kind couldn't be trusted, that she would betray us as soon as we had the chance, all that bunk. I swear, the way he were carrying on, you'd think she ate babies or something. Anyways, Viconia started talking back at Kivan, basically told him off, called him narrow-minded, and implied that if she'd had ill will toward us she'd have acted on it by now. She also called him some other things, but they were all in drow language or something so I don't know exactly what she said. I'm pretty sure they were insults, though. Remind me to ask her what _iblith_ means at some point, Mr. Journal. She seems to use that one a lot to describe folks and stuff what she doesn't like, and this time were no exception.

Ahem. Long story short, tempers flared and Kivan started getting agitated after that and looked like he were about to get violent, but before he could, old Bentley climbed straight over the bar and marched right between the two of them. He gave Kivan a real stern reminder that the Friendly Arm were a safe haven what welcomed everyone so long as they behaved themselves, and if he couldn't check his issues at the door and leave Viconia the Hells alone, then he were going to have to leave. Kivan grudgingly backed down, and Bentley apologized to Viconia and got her a drink on the house. She seems to be in a much better mood now. I think she likes it here, and I don't blame her, Mr. Journal. Aside from the crap what Kivan pulled, no one else here has so much as batted an eye at her presence. I imagine she hasn't really gotten the chance to sit down and enjoy a drink or anything in peace since coming to the surface. That's the great thing about the Friendly Arm, Mr. Journal. Long as you mind yourself and don't hurt no one, everyone here treats you like family. Doesn't matter who you are or where you came from, they won't turn you away. Not if you've got assassins after you, not if you're a drow, Hells, not even if you're that one huge scary arsehole of a half-orc.

So, anyways, that's about where we are now. We've finished up dinner, made our plans, and all gone up to our rooms for the night. Oh! Right! I nearly forgot! I've got to tell you about our plans, Mr. Journal! For the next tenday, we're going to be exploring up and down the coast! I'm real excited, as it's something I've always wanted to do. I mean, I've lived on that coastline my whole life, and I've never even seen it. Well. I mean, I've _seen_ it, but not much of it, and never close up. There were this one time Immy and me scaled the central library building to see if we could get a look over the keep walls. Nearly gave old Tethtoril a heart attack when he saw us up there, and Gorion scolded us something fierce when he found out, but the view we got of the ocean were all worth it. Those were simpler times, Mr. Journal. I miss them.

But now isn't the time to get all misty-eyed over the past. Now is the time to get excited for the future! By this time tomorrow I'll be breathing in the sea air and seeing that ocean up close! Gods, Mr. Journal! This is going to be even better than the beach at Ulgoth's Beard! Imagine! Walking down the length of the Sword Coast all the way from the Candlekeep Coastway to the Cloudpeaks! I'm getting chills just thinking about it!

I should try to get some rest now, Mr. Journal. I've got a big day ahead of me tomorrow. I'm not sure if I can sleep, though. I'm too excited! Still, I'll do my best.

Good night!

* * *

A/N: And I think this is a good place to stop for the night. Oh man though, it took me a while to figure out what to do with the retired adventurer halfling they stayed the night with, since Linn promised she'd write back about the tale swapping. And, though there IS a retired adventurer halfling who offers to swap tales with you in game, he never actually does it and he's a nameless NPC to boot. I decided the best way to go was to reference another IE game, and plugged in a party member from my last Icewind Dale II playthrough. I hope it worked out all right. Anyways, tune in next time as our heroes walk down the Sword Coast and have grand adventures at the ocean's edge! Toodles!


	54. Chapter 54: By the Cliffside

A/N: And here's the next chapter. Again, sorry for the wait. I was shirking my duties at the Renaissance Festival. Ehehe.

* * *

Day 113, Hour 9

Good morning, Mr. Journal! We're almost ready to be off now! We've just finished breakfast and bought a crossbow for Ajantis from old Bentley. Maybe it'll encourage him not to rush in with his sword right away every sodding time we get into a fight.

Unfortunately, Viconia won't be coming with us. She's found the Friendly Arm a lot more friendly ever since Kivan and Branwen left earlier this morning, and she's decided to stay here a while. Says she's had her fill of tromping around in the "accursed sunlight" or whatever. Can't say I blame her. I mean, she's been looking for somewhere what'll accept her and give her a chance all this time, and I think she's found it here in the Friendly Arm. Honestly, if I were a drow, I wouldn't be running around in the sunlight all day if I had the choice, neither. She probably likes running around in the sunlight just about as much as I like running around in the dead of night when I can't see for shite. I really hope it works out for her, Mr. Journal. The Friendly Arm is a nice place. I think she'll like it here.

As for me, I'll be right glad when we leave. That sodding half-orc has been shooting glares over at our table all morning, and it's making me right uncomfortable.

* * *

Day 113, Hour 22

Gods, Mr. Journal, but I'd hoped we'd be farther down the coast by now, but we've just now reached the cliffs of the Candlekeep Coastway, and it's too dark to keep moving on. I've said it before, and I'll say it again – I really don't like camping out this close to where Gorion fell. It reopens all sorts of painful wounds what have just now barely scarred over. Still, I'll be visiting his grave tonight all the same. It wouldn't feel right not to. Not when we're so close to it. Soon as I'm done writing, Immy and me are heading off.

So, we left the Friendly Arm in the late morning, after saying a quick goodbye to Viconia, who, like I mentioned earlier, decided she were staying behind. I swear, as we walked down the road away from the inn, Rasaad looked for all the world like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. I asked him about it, and he admitted, right sheepishly at that, that he were just real relieved we weren't traveling with Viconia no more. I knew they didn't get along, conflicts of religion and all, but I never realized she'd made him that uneasy. Gods, but I wish I knew a bit more about gods, Mr. Journal. This would probably make a lot more sense if I knew exactly why Shar and Selune had such a beef with each other. Oh, but my old teachers would be right disappointed if they knew how much of the learning what they drilled into my head I've forgotten.

Anyway, the trip here were mostly uneventful, just the usual walk along the Coastway and all. It's a journey I've taken three times now, though the first is one I'd certainly like to forget. The weather's been nice and clear all day, and Immy and me spent most of the trip reminiscing about good memories we had from our time at Candlekeep. They're almost enough to make a girl forget about the bad ones. Almost.

There's not much more to tell, Mr. Journal, and honestly, I'd like to keep this short. The sooner I finish, the sooner Immy and me can get going.

* * *

Day 114, Hour 6

Gods, but I am tired, Mr. Journal. Too much happened last night, and I barely got any sleep. Let's see. I left off right before going to visit Gorion's grave.

Well, Yeslick noticed Immy and me slipping out of camp, wanted to know where we were going. I'd forgotten that he and Ajantis weren't with us the last time we stopped around here. Once we told him, he insisted on going with us. Said that our act of remembrance were a noble one, but it weren't safe to be going off into the woods alone at night. I mean, it weren't that far from camp, Mr. Journal, but he weren't wrong. And, well, honestly, I were glad for the extra company. Immy and me, we both told Yeslick a lot about Gorion on our way there, and it just felt like we were keeping his memory alive by it, you know? Everyone should know what a great man he were, and what a great dad he were to us.

Immy picked some flowers on the way and we laid them on the grave together. It were a real solemn moment, and all. I told him all about what's happened so far, and all the things we've done and the great friends we've made. I'd like to think he could hear me, wherever he is now. But, pretty soon, it were the wee hours, and we had to go back to camp.

Once we hit the cliffs though, we saw a figure there, silhouetted against the night sky, and it weren't no one we knew, neither. When we got closer, it looked to be a nobleman. I called out to him, and he were a bit shocked. Okay, well a lot shocked. Nearly jumped straight out of his silk tights, he did. Hadn't known anyone else was out here and all. When we asked what he were all the way out here for, he told us he'd come to throw himself off the cliff. He...he wanted to die, Mr. Journal. Well, I've had enough of death. I'd just come back from staring it in the face, and I weren't about to abide no more. So I just sat down by the cliff and started talking to the guy. Asked him about his life, his friends, his family, anything I could think of. He were right tense at first, and I could barely get anything out of him. But, after a while, he ended up sitting down next to me and having a proper conversation. Turns out he'd been having some troubles at home, but after talking about all the other stuff he had going on, he realized just how much he had to live for. He ended up thanking me for stopping him, and heading back toward Beregost. I'm...glad. There's been too much sodding death recently. Preventing even one person from dying...that's something right worth doing, Mr. Journal.

We finally made it back to camp, long after Rasaad and Ajantis had already gone to sleep. But there were no rest for us, Mr. Journal. Not one hour after the three of us had returned and bedded down, we were ambushed by a horde of gibberlings! Nasty little creatures, those. I'm glad they didn't wait a bit longer to attack, though. At least it were soon enough after we'd gone to sleep that I were still in that half-awake, half-asleep state and noticed them coming. I don't want to think about what would have happened if they'd caught us completely unawares. We were all so tired, I guess, that we'd just straight up forgotten to set a watch! We're not like to do that again in a long time, let me tell you.

The gibberlings weren't much of a problem. They went down right easy. I mean, they were only gibberlings, after all. But they did keep me up just long enough that I didn't get near enough sleep, and that makes for a very cranky Linn, Mr. Journal. Can you tell how cranky I am about this? Because the answer is very. Even worse, Immy is cooking this morning. She's probably going to burn everything again and that will do nothing for my mood.

At least there's a bit of a silver lining, and that's in what lies ahead. We're going south along the cliffs from here as soon as we're done eating breakfast, into lands what none of us have ever seen before. We'll have new adventures and new experiences, and it will be amazing. Not even all the sleep deprivation in the world can ruin that. Anyways, I'll write you later, Mr. Journal. Hopefully, I'll be in a right better mood when next we meet.

* * *

Day 114, Hour 23

We've been traveling south along the edge of these cliffs all day, Mr. Journal. It's been a right scenic walk, it has. It were bright and sunny near all day, and looking out past the cliffs you could see the ocean, going all the way to the horizon and meeting up with the sky. The waves, you could hear them crashing against the rocks way, way below. And there were so many sea birds, flying overhead. I kept looking for a path down to the base of the cliffs as we walked, but didn't see any. I do so want to find another beach, Mr. Journal. The one in Ulgoth's Beard were ever so enjoyable.

When the sun were right overhead, we found a rocky outcropping a bit farther away from the cliff's edge, all surrounded by trees, what had flat bits what made for perfect natural seating. We decided to stop there for lunch, and had a grand time. One of the sea birds swooped down and tried to steal my bread, but aside from that, it were just peachy. After the meal, me and Immy went over to the cliff's edge and sat down, all dangling our feet over the side, and looked out at the sea. We started talking about what might be out there, so far out across the water that we couldn't even see it. We'd both heard tales of the New World before, a distant land what folks call Maztica. But, for every tale some traveler back at Candlekeep told of it, hundreds more things were left to the imagination. So, me and Immy, we took turns wondering out loud what it must be like. Immy thinks there must be all sorts of funny animals there what no one here in Faerun's ever seen before. I think there've got to be people there, too, just like us, what wonder and dream and build great cities. I do so wonder what those cities look like, Mr. Journal, I really do.

While me and Immy were relaxing, Rasaad were meditating and Ajantis and Yeslick were getting themselves all worked up in a sparring match. The two of them seem to have become real great friends recently, Mr. Journal. Yeslick were helping Ajantis practice, teaching the boy everything he knows. Immy and me even got up and went over there to watch the end of their little training session. Gods, but Yeslick can move fast for a dwarf. He dodged all Ajantis's blows, just like lightning. Ajantis couldn't land a single hit on him, though his reaction time is getting better. I'm glad Yeslick's helping him out, Mr. Journal.

The afternoon portion of our journey were much like the morning one, except we were attacked by wolves right around sunset. Right ruined the picturesque beauty of it all, it did. I mean, we all made it out with nary a scratch, but it were still sodding stressful, Mr. Journal. Those beasts, they're all fangs and fury. One slip-up and the next thing you know they've taken a good chunk out of your leg. Not a fun time, to be sure. But, the wolves got no chunks this time around, so I suppose it's all good.

Anyways, we've set up camp for the night, a good fifty feet or so away from the cliff's edge. There are so many stars out here, Mr. Journal, without the lights of the city or the branches of so many trees to obscure them. I remember reading in Candlekeep that some of the stars up there make pictures what tell stories. I tried so hard to see them, but I couldn't. There were just too many stars.

I suppose I should sleep for now, Mr. Journal. Everyone else is already asleep, save Yeslick, who's got first watch. I've got third, so I'd best rest while I can. See you in the morning.

* * *

Day 115, Hour 7

It's not near as clear as it were yesterday, Mr. Journal. It's morning, but the sky is dark and gray, even though the sun should be up by now. It looks like there's a storm brewing, and I don't like it one bit. I'm in the mood for the sun and the sea right now, and this weather looks like it's not going to cooperate. Sodding inconsiderate of it, if you ask me. Rasaad's on breakfast duty this morning. I wonder if I could get a chance to talk to him a bit if I offered to help. I...I think I _will_ offer to help, Mr. Journal. Write you later.

* * *

A/N: And there's where we stop for now~ Tune in next time as our heroes get into some coastal hijinks! Toodles!


	55. Chapter 55: Wertling Around

A/N: And here's the next chapter. This one's just one long entry, because a lot happened in just a few in-game hours. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Day 115, Hour 12

Gods, it's only about lunchtime, and already we've wertled our way up and down this coastline, gotten caught in a storm, and nearly lost Ajantis. Nearly lost you, too, Mr. Journal. It's been raining something fierce near all morning and I've had several close calls. I've really got to find some way to better protect you from the water. All it takes is one time, and suddenly, all I've written in you? Gone.

I had a right nice conversation with Rasaad while I helped him make breakfast this morning. He told me that he porridge he were making were something he learned to cook back at the Monastery of the Moon, during simpler times and all. He told me a bit more about what it were like growing up there. He seems real fond of those times, Mr. Journal. It kind of reminds me of the way I feel for Candlekeep, you know?

He must miss his home, too.

Anyway, the storm started soon after we got moving. There were rain falling and wind whipping and everything as we made our way through the forests by the cliffside. The ground were a gentle slope down as the cliffs got shorter and shorter. We ended up moving a bit deeper into the woods so as to get a little more cover from the trees. It didn't help much, though. We still got sodding soaked.

After a little while we came to a large clearing, and right in the middle there were a pretty blue lady what were sitting on the ground, weeping. Upon seeing a lady in such distress, Ajantis practically rushed out to ask her what were wrong, and it were all we could do to keep up. The boy is right chivalrous, he is, likely a bit too much for his own good, as we were about to see.

The lady told us she were a spirit from the sea and she'd gotten herself lost all alone up on the drylands, and were right afraid, as the woods were dangerous. Ajantis were quick to offer our services escorting her back down to the shore. That didn't bother me much, mind you – I'm always willing to help out someone what's in need, and all – but this lady, she had other ideas. As soon as Ajantis offered to help, she were overjoyed and offered him a kiss as thanks, and, like the _naive sodding idiot_ he is, Ajantis accepted. Did I mention Ajantis is a naive sodding idiot, Mr. Journal. He is the biggest idiot, and he needs to stop and get a clue. The second her lips touched his, he fell to his knees and started turning blue and choking and all. The next second he were coughing up water and wouldn't stop, and then, he just fell over dead. It were horrible, Mr. Journal. I saw it all happen right in front of me and there weren't even anything I could do. That bitch straight up drowned him with some weird sort of fae magic, and then, she turned on us to attack.

Well, I were filled with rage, Mr. Journal. Started screaming at her and going at her with my BOSSHAMMER, asking what in the _Hells_ she'd gone and done that for. He were just a stupid, silly kid, dammit, and she'd _used_ that! She took all his goodwill and kind intentions and _used_ them, and then he were dead! I kept swinging and swinging at her, and then, she tried to retreat, screamed at us to stop, that it wasn't _fun_ anymore. That just made me even angrier, Mr. Journal. As if it had been _fun_ before, murdering an innocent boy what only wanted to help her!

But then, she said something what caught my attention. She shouted that her actions weren't her own, that she didn't want to kill or die or nothing, and that she only did what her master bade her because she had to. I stopped then, Mr. Journal. We all did. I asked her to explain, my bosshammer still at the ready in case this were a sodding trap.

It weren't. It turned out that an ogre mage by the name of Droth had stolen a shawl what contained her very essence, and so long as he had it, she had to do everything he said. She told us to please let her go, to leave now while we could. Then, she knelt down and touched Ajantis on the forehead, and next thing I knew, he were sitting up and spluttering like he'd only been knocked out. Rasaad helped him to his feet and I opened my mouth to say something to this lady, but I didn't get the chance to, because, well, you know what they say. When you speak of devils, they will appear. And apparently, the same is true of ogre mages, because who should appear at that moment but Droth himself? He'd been watching everything all invisible-like this whole time. He confronted the lady – Shoal, he called her – and demanded to know why she hadn't destroyed us "small-pinks."

She seemed at a loss for words, and took a few steps back, the color all but drained from her face. So, I stepped in. After all, she'd clearly put herself on the line by going against Droth's commands and reviving Ajantis. I looked that big bully square in the eye and told him to give Shoal her shawl back. He just laughed, told me she'd been toying with us, that yes he had the shawl, but Shoal were his mate and had given it willingly. Looking back at Shoal though, she sure as Hells didn't look willing. She were standing there, white as a sheet, looking for all the world like she wanted nothing more than to get away from this guy. I stood my ground, and Droth, he said he'd just kill us all himself.

I knew we had to get this over with quick, as Ajantis were still too disoriented from his brush with death to even stand up straight. Luckily, I'd fought an ogre mage before, not a tenday ago, and I knew how to handle him. I used that same magic-disrupting technique what Xan had taught me again. It worked just as well as it had the first time. Seems like relying solely on their magic is a failing that most ogre mages have – just like the one what we'd encountered back in the Firewine Ruins, Droth kept trying to use his big flashy spells against us, even after realizing I were timing my own spells to interrupt his incantations. He went down without landing even a single hit on us.

After that, Shoal were just thanking us over and over, saying that she were finally free, and that she were glad it were all over, even though it were a fun game while it lasted. After that, she left. Something tells me, Mr. Journal, that there may have been more truth to Droth's words than we thought. The way she kept acting like all this were a game, it seems to me that she might have gone into this willingly after all, and only reconsidered later on. Maybe things got a bit more out of hand than she expected, and she weren't planning on becoming an accessory to murder. At least, I hope she weren't planning on it. Either way, the whole episode ended with all of us in one piece, so I suppose it could have gone worse. Yeslick gave Ajantis a real stern talk about blindly trusting the wrong folk once the poor boy got his head screwed back on straight. I don't think I've seen Yeslick that dead serious since we flooded the Cloakwood Mines, Mr. Journal. I guess he just really doesn't want Ajantis to make the same kind of mistakes he did with Rieltar.

At least we got some treasure out of it, Mr. Journal. We found an enchanted helmet in Droth's pack after the battle. He probably got it off of some other poor adventurer he sicced Shoal on and put it in there after he couldn't fit the thing on his big fat head. We don't have ogre-sized heads, though, Mr. Journal, so it were a good thing for us it weren't bigger. We gave it to Ajantis, because with how impulsive he is, he needs all the protection he can get. Gods, but I'm glad that sodding idiot didn't get himself killed off for good!

After that, we went back to tromping through the woods in the rain. When we came out of the trees, we were on this peninsula, with a path leading down to the shore. We followed it and found a secluded little beach, surrounded by rock to the left and right. It would have been a right nice place to relax, if it hadn't been pouring down rain like a sodding waterfall from the sky. Still, we spent some time exploring the little beach, which were a nice and peaceful few minutes. It's a right shame that it didn't last. See, unbeknownst to us, while we looked around, some ogrillons were setting up an ambush at the top of the path back up. Caught us right unawares when we retraced our steps. They burst out from the trees at us before we could even react, and one of them punched poor Rasaad square in the face! Nearly sent him flying, it did! Of course, he got right back up and charged at them in a flurry of blows, you know, doing the whole totally awesome monk thing. I hung back and sung my magic songs like a proper bard for once while he, Ajantis, and Yeslick tore into the things. We sure taught them to mess with us, we did! I may not like violence, Mr. Journal, but I sure as Hells got no problem fighting back when arsehole ogrillons attack us, _especially_ arsehole ogrillons what punch Rasaad in the face. They got what was coming.

After we handed the ogrillons their sorry arses, we left the peninsula and continued south along the coastline until we found another stretch of beach, this one much longer than the first. That's where this old gnome came up to us and started talking in rhymes and wertles. There were so many wertles, Mr. Journal, they were nearly every other wertle-wertle-word. He had me wertling right along with him by the end, he did. I admit though, he really has a talent for verse. He'd make a good bard.

Anyway, the non-rhyming version of it is he wanted our help to find a ring in a pirate ship wrecked on the beach to the south. He warned us, though, wertle-wertle-woo, not to put the ring on, or else we'd wertle, too. Not quite sure what he meant by that, but I think it may have already been too late – I were very much wertling right back at him. Wertle is a fun word to say, Mr. Journal. Wertle. Wertle. Wertle, wertle, woo.

We, of course, agreed to help him out, as we'd been planning on wertling down to the beach anyway. It were just too wertling enticing not to explore. It were, unfortunately, not near as lovely as the beach back at Ulgoth's Beard had been. I mean, the beach at Ulgoth's Beard weren't infested with carrion crawlers, and this one sure were. That's got to be like, an automatic ten points in favor of Ulgoth's Beard right there. I still don't know what in the Hells carrion crawlers would be doing all over a beach. I thought they only lived in caves, but apparently, they are also a beach hazard, right up there along with riptides and jellyfish and all the other dangerous beach stuff what I've read about. At least we managed not to get our arses paralyzed by any of them. The good thing about carrion crawlers on beaches is it's a lot easier to spot them from far away than it is in caves.

After fighting our way through near a dozen carrion crawlers, we finally found the shipwreck our very wertley friend had told us about. It were run aground on the shore, a tattered black standard still hanging from its mast. Around two thirds of the ship were still out in the water and half-sunk, so it were real hard to find a way on board. It were too tall to just climb up on deck. We found a hole in the side of the ship out in about knee-deep water, though, so we managed to get in through there and go up through the belly of the ship. The lower decks were half-flooded, and there weren't nothing there but rotted crates and barrels – whatever had been in them had long since either rotted away or gone out with the tide. The upper decks and the captain's quarters were all still in real good condition, if a little thrown into disarray from the rough landing. We found basic supplies and a couple of trinkets lying around here and there, but nothing what matched the description the gnome had given us. We must have searched the ship for a good hour before Immy found it up on deck, stashed in a crack just below the wheel at the ship's helm. Rather odd place for a ring, that.

Still, we'd found it, so it were time to head back. We were, of course, careful not to wear the ring. Wouldn't want us all wertling, now. Especially since, with what I know of magical items from stories and what I know about recognizing different kinds of magic from my studies with Xan, I could tell there were some sort of curse on the thing. What kind, I don't know, and I'm not sure I want to, but it weren't anything good, I can say that much. The gnome, though, he were right happy to have it back either way. There were gleeful wertles resounding up to the sky. Wertle, wertle, woo! He gave us a flask of some sort of liquid as a reward, but warned us not to unstopple the bottle or else we'd get burned. I mean, I suppose it's at least better than getting wertled, right? All wertling aside, it looks like it's magic oil what bursts into flame once it's exposed to the air. Good for throwing at enemies. It might just save our arses in the future.

And so, we left our new friend to his wertles and continued our exploration of the beach, which stretched for quite a ways past the old pirate ship. After a while, the beach ended, but there were still a rocky shore what kept going south for a ways. We saw a man dressed in all black in the distance there. Curiosity won out over caution, as it always should, in my opinion, and we headed over there to say hello. Before we could get close to him though, this huge group of ogres and half-ogres came charging downhill at us. It were all we could do to get our weapons out in time. Gods, but ogres hit hard, Mr. Journal. Not two seconds in, they sent both me and Rasaad sprawling, and Ajantis had to cover us while Yeslick healed us up enough for us to get back on our feet and retreat. I spent most the rest of the battle firing off arrows from a distance alongside Immy, but Rasaad rushed right back into the fray once he'd been patched up a bit and ended up getting real beat up. By the time the last of the ogres fell, all five of us looked like we'd been run over by a five-wagon caravan. What's worse, Yeslick had used up the last of his healing during the battle.

We were in for a lucky break though, because the commotion from the battle had gotten the man in black's attention, and it turns out he were a traveling healer. Fixed us right up, good as new. Then, before we could even thank him for his help, he strode off without a word. Never even told us his name. Ooh, also, the rain stopped in the middle of the battle. Silver linings, Mr. Journal. Well, not _that_ silver, I mean, it started storming again in less than half an hour, but still, it were a welcome break from the constant downpour.

We couldn't go south for much longer after that, as there were a great cliff rising up all tall and whatnot, jutting out pretty far into the ocean, and it didn't look like there were any way up or around nearby. So, we decided to explore the woods what were just a short walk from the coastline instead. We figured we could find a way forward later. It started raining again just as we reached a real pretty field of flowers. I wanted to stop and take in the lovely scenery, even with the rain and all, but that's when the wolves attacked. There were so many wolves, Mr. Journal. One of them took a huge bite out of Rasaad and I had to use up my healing ability to help him out. And even after that, they just kept coming. We ended up giving up on the woods and retreating back to the coast, bruised and battered.

Right as the coastline came into view, so did a big sign what we hadn't seen before from the beach. It read, "SWORD COAST," in these huge, fancy letters all covered in gold leaf. It had to be the most pointless sign I have ever seen in my life, Mr. Journal. No one needs a sign to tell them this is the Sword Coast. Of _course_ this is the Sword Coast. This is smack in the middle of the Sword Coast. You could walk at least three days from here in any direction and _still_ be on the Sword Coast. We've been adventuring for over three moons now, and aside from a brief foray to an icy rock that shall not be further mentioned, we haven't once left the sodding Sword Coast. It's like sticking a giant sign in the middle of sodding Calimport what reads "CALIMSHAN."

Okay, okay, I'm done. I'm done complaining about the unnecessary signage. Let's move on. Long story short, we were all beat up from head to toe and already thinking about stopping when the storm suddenly got way worse. I don't think I've ever seen such a downpour in my life. We ended up running for it and taking shelter in that old abandoned pirate ship on the beach what we'd searched earlier. It were still plenty safe and dry up in the captain's cabin. And, well, that's where we are now. Licking our wounds in a ruined pirate ship. I've got to admit, of all the places where we've stopped to rest, it's certainly one of the most badass. I mean, it's a sodding _pirate ship_. It doesn't get better than that, Mr. Journal. Oh, if only these walls could tell tales.

We're probably going to be here for a while, so I might as well make myself comfortable. Immy and me have been talking, and I think once Yeslick finishes preparing his healing spells and patches us up, we're going to go explore the ship a bit more. There's got to be at least one secret we haven't uncovered in here. Besides, it'll be a good way to pass the time. This rain doesn't seem like it's going to let up anytime soon.

* * *

A/N: And that's where we stop for now! Tune in next time as our heroes find a way around the cliffs and continue south along the coast! Oh yes, a note: The reason I've put cliffs there in the story is because it's actually impossible to travel directly south to the next coastal area from here in-game. I had to go all the way east to High Hedge, south from there, and then back west toward the coast. So, uh, that's gonna be a thing that happens next time. Toodles!


	56. Chapter 56: Roundabout

A/N: And so, I emerge from the shadows to give you...an entire chapter dedicated to finding a way around the cliffs to the southern part of the coast, since the game won't let you travel directly south from the shipwreck area. Aren't you glad you stuck around for such a _riveting_ addition to the story? All joking aside, I had fun with this chapter. I do enjoy when I get to add in more flavor and stuff that's not strictly in-game. So, um. Enjoy, I guess.

* * *

Day 115, Hour 22

Evening, Mr. Journal. Yeslick's finished up healing just about everyone but Rasaad. He's doing that right now. Gods, but I hate seeing Rasaad in pain. It makes my insides hurt more than all the wolf bites and ogre clubs in the world. I would have helped out, but my healing powers are already used up, so I'd just be in the way. We're still going to stay here for the night, though – it's too dark to travel and it's still pouring outside, to boot.

Me and Immy were the first ones what Yeslick healed, earlier in the day, and we decided to make ourselves scarce, give him more room to work, and all. So, we went on an AMAZING ADVENTURE. By which, of course, I mean, exploring the Hells out of this old pirate ship. I admit, Mr. Journal, I always expected pirate ships to be a bit...bigger than this. The only bed were in the captain's quarters. We found a ruined hammock or two on one of the lower decks, so I guess that's how the other pirates all slept. Right rude of the captain to hog all that space when his crew were packed below decks like sardines, I think. Other than that, there were a lot of old boxes and a little galley with no food left in it. Oh, and cannons. We found the cannons, Mr. Journal. Six of them. Half the deck what had the cannons were flooded, but part of it were still dry and totally above the water. And, and, and – one of the cannons were still in working condition. Immy found some black powder and cannonballs over by the stairs and got into her head that we should _totally_ try firing it.

Oh, I knew it were a bad idea, Mr. Journal, but it were a _cannon_. A real, honest-to-gods CANNON, Mr. Journal! We couldn't just _not_ fire it! When else would we get the chance? It's not like there were anyone else on the beach, so there were no chance of accidentally hurting anyone! So, Immy helped me get the ammunition all packed in there right, and then I used my magic to light the fuse. Next thing we knew, this ear piercing noise were ringing everywhere, the rope holding the cannon snapped with the recoil, and it went flying back. Knocked us right out of the way and hurt like the Nine Hells. The sodding thing _burned_ me, the metal on it were so hot. Also, I was not expecting the fuse to just fly up out of the cannon after it ignited, but that were a thing what happened. If the wood hadn't been so damp, it could have started a fire, Mr. Journal. A right good thing it didn't, that. The cannonball fired, though. Flew real far. Could barely see the rock what it hit in the pouring rain when we looked out the porthole.

Course, it weren't two minutes before Ajantis came rushing down there to see what had happened. He ended up dragging us back upstairs, where we got a right stern lecture from Yeslick. He's seen cannons fired before in his adventures, and apparently there were some steps what we missed and we were lucky the thing hadn't exploded in our faces. We had to promise not to mess with anything else before he let us go back below decks. But, once we were down there, I had a talk with Immy, and we both agreed it were totally worth it. Sure, not the best idea, and definitely not something we'd be dumb enough to try again, but I mean, no one got hurt, and it _was_ pretty awesome. We spent the rest of our time looking through what were left of the cargo. We didn't find anything useful, but we did find plenty weird. I think my favorite was an old beat-up flute made out of some unfamiliar metal what I found tangled up in one of the hammocks. It still plays, though it sounds right funny. I am definitely taking this thing with me.

We went back up to the captain's quarters in time for dinner. Trail rations, of course, as we didn't want to risk starting a campfire, as at best it would smoke up the cabins, and at worst, up here on this drier level, it'd burn the ship down with us inside it. I checked if we could cook down in the galley, but near everything in the kitchen area there were ruined.

After dinner, I started practicing on my brand new shiny flute. Okay, so, my lightly used tarnished flute what's dented at one end. Didn't last for long, though. After a while, the others made me stop dooting on my flute. Said in such small quarters, I should not doot. Apparently, I'm bad at it. Back in Candlekeep, I only learned how to play a lute, so I suppose I've come up one "f" short. Still, practice makes perfect. Once we're not all stuck in a tiny room what makes all the sounds in it louder, I will doot once more. Doot doot doot, on my flute. Doot.

Anyway, it's getting real late, so I'm going to find a corner to lay my bedroll down in, Mr. Journal. Hopefully this storm will have passed by morning, and we can get going.

* * *

Day 116, Hour 10

The rain is gone! The rain is gone! It's gone, gone, gone! We can move on now, Mr. Journal! Rasaad is all healed up, we've all had a disgusting – er, I mean, delicious – breakfast of trail rations, and I am raring to go! We've all talked it over, and today, we are going to try to find some way past those cliffs to the south. There's definitely more past there – Ajantis says that considering how long we walked to get here, Beregost is likely near directly east of us. That means we're nowhere _near_ hitting the Cloudpeaks yet. So, there's got to be a way further south.

I wonder what lies ahead.

* * *

Day 116, Hour 23

We've been traveling along these cliffs all day, with no end to them in sight. No passes what lead up, neither. From the looks of it, we're going to have to go way inland to get around. Gods, but I wish I'd paid more attention when old Karan were teaching me about geography back in Candlekeep. Then I would have known about this sodding cliff.

The day itself weren't full of surprises. The only thing what really stood out was the time a group of skeletons ambushed us back in the early afternoon, but Yeslick scared them all off with his religious mojo, so it weren't more than a minor inconvenience.

We've stopped for the night, though, as it's very dark and we've started to get tired. Also, my feet sodding hurt. I think if we'd walked another half mile they would've straight up gone on strike. Luckily, only half as much work went into making camp as usual, as we found an old campsite already waiting for us near the cliff wall. Apparently, several adventuring groups have stopped here before us. Some of them even carved their names and when they were here into the cliff face. The oldest carving on there is dated 12 Alturiak, 1301. That's more than fifty years ago, Mr. Journal! Immy thought we should leave our mark, too, become a part of the campsite tradition. She spent a good twenty minutes carving out "Imoen the Quick was here." The rest of us ended up chiseling our names in, too, except Yeslick, who said that chipping away at the cliff like that without proper stonecarving tools were only defacing it. Immy wanted to put in a date like the others had, but that would make it too easy for those assassins what've been after us to track us with it. I mean, we haven't seen any in a while, but still, better safe than sorry. So, Immy only put down the year, and I carved out "SUCK IT, ASSASSINS" underneath. It was awesome.

But now, it is sleepytime, when sleepy Linns and sleepy journals have to go to bed. Good night.

* * *

Day 117, Hour 11

Gods, Mr. Journal, we've gone farther inland than I thought! Now that the sun's up, I can see towers rising just above the trees in the distance, downhill from here. From the looks of it, that's High Hedge! We're but a stone's throw away from Beregost! That's right good news, Mr. Journal, as we've been directly south of there before. This cliff is likely the one what ends near where we fought that mad cleric Bassilus. That means we'll be clearing it soon, and then we can head back to the coast for more exploration.

We'll be on our way before you know it. Immy's just admiring her work on the cliff face one last time before we head off. I think I'll go join her.

* * *

Day 117, Hour 23

Hello again, Mr. Journal. We've spent the entire day navigating the rocky area what's south of High Hedge, looking for a pass what will take us back west to the coast. It's been a bit rough going, but we've finally found a way around the cliffs. The path looks a bit rough, and it probably won't be easy, but it's there.

Luckily, we didn't run into anything what wanted to kill us today. I'm right glad for that, as navigating all these rocky passages were hard enough without monsters and assassins and whatnot on our tails. I did nearly trip and fall off a ledge once, though. If Rasaad hadn't caught me in time, I would've been right done for, I would. The drop had to be about fifteen feet down, at least! It were a bit awkward, though, as I got a bit, um, well, blushy and giggly when I tried to thank him. Not sure if he noticed, though. He has got such strong, warm arms, Mr. Journal. A girl could get lost in them, you know. Ohhhh. Gods, now I'm embarrassing myself. Forget I said anything, Mr. Journal. Just. Forget all of it!

Anyways, we've set up camp for the night, and will be headed back towards the coast come morningtime! Yes. It were my turn to cook tonight, and I've got to say, I think I did a right good job of it. Made a nice thick stew, and no one complained. Ajantis even came back for seconds, Mr. Journal, which were both a great compliment and a stroke of luck, as I'd made a bit too much. But I've written for too long, Mr. Journal, and the hour is late, so, with a full belly and a hopeful heart, I bid you goodnight.

* * *

Day 118, Hour 7

Good morning, Mr. Journal! I'm up bright and early today! I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself! In just an hour or two, we'll be heading off on the trail we found back to the coast! And from there, we'll see new sights! Have new adventures! Meet new people! And all of it without the crushing responsibility that some of our previous journeys have had. You know, I almost wish those Iron Throne guys would just sod off on their own and then this trek across the coast would never have to come to an end. Gods, but it's going to put such a damper on my mood when we have to head back to the Friendly Arm. I suppose, since the city gates will be open by then, I've at least got seeing Baldur's Gate up close to look forward to, even though it really could be under better circumstances. Oh, and now that I think of it, Xan should be back by then, too. So, I can look forward to seeing him again. Well, at least, I hope I can. The thought of him traveling alone still worries me, Mr. Journal. That's not a smart thing for a wizard to do, after all. I've tried to put it out of my mind, and mostly, that's gone right well for me, but, I guess it still comes up sometimes, huh?

Now that I think of it, Mr. Journal, getting back to the Friendly Arm and back to business won't be bad at all.

But, that still doesn't make what lies ahead of us right now any less _awesome_. New adventures, Mr. Journal! Ooh, I can't wait! But, I have to. Immy's still asleep, after all. I think I'll go help Rasaad and Yeslick pack up in the meantime.

* * *

Day 118, Hour 23

Gods, Mr. Journal, but I'm sore all over. The path here has been chock full of crags and cliffs, of ridges and ravines! It was a real hike, it was. Some places, there weren't even a hint of a trail to follow! I don't think the human body were meant to climb over that many rocks in one day. It's just too much. My arms are just about falling off, my legs may as well be made of lead, and my middle hurts so much I couldn't even bring myself to eat tonight. I'm all covered in bruises, too, from little mishaps on the road. I never realized I were this sodding clumsy, Mr. Journal. Rasaad didn't seem to have no trouble, and Yeslick were crawling all over those rocks like he'd been born to do it, while I were struggling near the back. Even Immy had an easier time of it than me, Mr. Journal! In fact, the only one what couldn't climb better than me were Ajantis, and I'm pretty sure that were only because he's wearing _really_ heavy armor. Gods, when I were a kid, I were so good at climbing things. I could climb anything and everything, Mr. Journal. Anything and everything! Where did that all go?

At least I won't have to worry about it for a while, now. We made it to flatter ground a couple hours ago and decided to set up camp. We're real close to the coast now, possibly right off it. I can't tell for sure how far off it is, as it's right dark, but I can hear the ocean and smell the salt air, Mr. Journal. We may be combing beaches again by this time tomorrow. Ooh, what an exciting thought. Sand and sea, sand and sea!

* * *

Day 119, Hour 11

We're not quite there yet, Mr. Journal. Even in the light, I can't see the ocean anywhere, just trees. Lots and lots of trees. There are seagulls flying overhead, though, so it's got to be close now. We've just finished up breakfast. I ate so much, Mr. Journal. And so fast, too! I caught Ajantis giving me this _look_. I think I weirded him right out, scarfing down food like a madwoman, and all. But I were just so _hungry_ , I couldn't help it. Skipping dinner really does make a girl ravenous, it does.

Anyway, we're going to be heading out real soon, but not soon enough. No time is soon enough. Coastal adventures, Mr. Journal! I cannot wait! I bet you can't, either. But I can't very well write about what hasn't happened yet. That would take some _mad_ divination, it would. So, until tonight, all I can say is "to be continued". Deal with it.

* * *

A/N: And that's where we're stopping for the night. Tune in next time as our heroes gallivant along the Sword Coast and make a new friend! Toodles!


	57. Chapter 57: Unlucky Charms

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've had my hands full trying to enroll in a health insurance plan before the deadline. I'm back though. This chapter is a bit short, but I hope you enjoy it, nonetheless.

* * *

Day 119, Hour 14

Gods, Mr. Journal, but a lot has happened in the last few hours! We've reached the coast, met a new friend, and now, we're looking for pirate treasure! Real, honest-to-gods pirate treasure! It feels like something straight out of the stories what I used to read back in Candlekeep. Immy and me are both real excited!

So, let me tell you about the new friend we're traveling with. Her name is Safana, and she used to be a pirate. A real pirate, Mr. Journal! She's super awesome and she don't let anything bother her, and I want to be just like her one day. She's so confident, Mr. Journal! She's so sodding cool! We met her pretty soon after we set off this morning – She stopped us in the woods on our way down to the shore and said she had a problem what only we could help her with.

Of course, Ajantis volunteered his help near right away – that boy can never sit still when there's a damsel in distress involved. Immy and me were reasonably cautious, though, and Immy reminded him none too subtly about the Shoal incident a few days back. Luckily, Safana weren't no water spirit looking to drown a fool paladin or two. When we asked her to tell us more about herself, she did readily, and apologized for not having introduced herself sooner. Said she'd just been a bit startled because they don't grow their men near as big and strong as ours down south, where she's from. She were obviously talking about Ajantis, of course – I mean, he's the only one of us what isn't short, a woman, a southerner, or some combination of the three. Well, that, and she were eying him up and down as she said it. Got him right flustered, it did, but I think he enjoyed the attention, if that goofy grin of his were anything to go by.

Anyways, Safana told us she were looking for a treasure what'd been hidden by a notorious pirate by the name of Black Alaric. Said he'd been rumored to have a secret cave in a secret cove around here somewhere, and stashed the treasure there, but that he'd supposedly left monsters to guard it, and she'd need the help of some heroic men to deal with them. Well, we certainly had three of those with us, Mr. Journal, and two heroic women besides! So, we agreed to help her out – after all, a treasure hunt sounded right exciting. Immy were clamoring for it especially loud, too. Can't blame her. I mean, a real treasure hunt, Mr. Journal! For real pirate treasure!

So, we told Safana what we'd seen of the coast coming south, specifically about that pirate ship we'd seen up farther north. Told her that weren't likely to be it, though, considering we'd wertled the Hells out of that area and found no treasure aside from my new flute. Safana agreed with us that it'd be smarter to search the beaches around this area. There were lots of cliffs around here, after all – there were bound to be more than one cove or inlet or whatever.

And so, with renewed purpose, we set off for the coast. On the way, Safana told Immy and me tons of exciting stories about her adventures aboard the pirate ship Exzesus, before she'd gotten in a spot of trouble with the captain and had to flee for her life. Of course, the entire time she were talking to us, she were also practically hanging off of Ajantis, who were looking real awkward about it all. He barely managed to stammer out that it weren't proper of her to act like that, but, I mean, I didn't see him pushing her away. That boy had better be careful. If he's not, a strong lady like that could eat him right up. I don't think I've ever seen his face this red before, Mr. Journal. Ever.

It started raining soon after that, with lightning and thunder and everything. I were a bit worried, considering we're kind of on Talos's shite list right now, but Safana didn't give a fig about any of it, not even after I'd told her about the mess we'd gotten into with those fishermen up north. That woman is hardcore as frick frack, Mr. Journal. Totally unshakable. I don't think there's anything what can phase her. I wish I could muster up near that kind of confidence.

Oh, I almost forgot – we were also approached by a troubled astrologer what seemed to think we'd sought her out. She told us, sounding right annoyed, that for the last time she didn't know who was behind the iron crisis and she didn't want to accompany us to the gambling tables. I told her not to worry, as we already had a right good idea who were behind it, and we could tell her what we knew if she were interested, but I had to wonder – if her, you know, _thing_ were reading about current events in the stars, then what were she looking at, if not the iron crisis?

Well, she got all huffy about that, and told me that the Sword Coast weren't the center of the world and plenty of more important stuff were happening in distant lands. Seemed a bit silly to me, Mr. Journal. I mean, sure, important things happen all over, but I think anyone would want to know about the stuff what affects them personally first. It's only natural. Still, I'm not one to pass up tales of distant lands, so I asked her about what she'd seen. Apparently there's something big brewing in Amn to the south. I sure hope it doesn't have anything to do with this possibility of war we've got looming over us now. I hear more people blaming Amn for this iron crisis every day.

We reached the beach around noon, and it were just about the _beachiest_ beach I've ever seen. White sands, seaweed washed up in clumps on the shore, the works! Why is it that we always have to find the best beaches when it's raining and we can't enjoy them proper-like? This one didn't even have carrion crawlers on it, Mr. Journal! That already makes it at least ten times better than the last beach we were on! Of course, it weren't all one long beach, neither. This whole area is right covered in cliffs and ledges and outcroppings and whatnot, and sometimes, we'd have to climb over those to get to the next stretch of beach.

We were attacked by hobgoblins during one of those climbs, on a rocky ledge just above one of the beaches. Safana shouted at us to use a divide and conquer tactic, as the hobgoblins couldn't exactly shoot arrows at us if they had people up in their faces. So, we each took on one hobgoblin, one-on-one. It were terrifying, Mr. Journal, but it sure did work. It were a good strategy, and I'll have to remember it. She sure does know her stuff, she does. We weren't out of the woods yet, though – not a moment after the last hobgoblin fell, a group of blue ladies started slinging spells at us from the beach below. Sirines, I think, just like the ones what are in the Song of the Morning Temple back in Beregost. I managed to get a fireball off at them, but then, one of them started singing the most lovely song, and I remember my vision going red, then black, and then, after that, nothing. The next thing I knew, there were only two of them left and Rasaad were charging at me with this horrible glazed-over look in his eyes. I barely managed to dodge his fists in time. The man moves fast, Mr. Journal! It were all I could do to run away from him. I mean, it were obvious he were under a spell of some kind, and that he probably wouldn't stop attacking anytime soon, but I couldn't fight him! I just couldn't!

Once Ajantis cut down the two other sirines, Rasaad stopped and just looked around, all confused-like. Safana told us after what had happened – apparently most of us had fallen thrall to the sirines' spell and started attacking each other at their command. Only Safana and Ajantis had resisted the call of the song, and had tried their best to minimize the damage. Safana had been trying to keep us at bay while Ajantis went after the sirines. I'd been the third to come to my senses, after Immy and Yeslick. Gods, Mr. Journal, but I don't remember a moment of it. Just the thought of it scares me, that I could be charmed into attacking my friends so easily. I wonder if this is what all those bandits we fought before felt like when Xan used his enchantment spells. Gods, but now I feel sorry for them.

It weren't our last encounter with sirines, neither. Further down, the beach dead-ended into a little cove, surrounded by cliffs on three sides, with a cave in the rock face not ten feet from the beach. There, three more sirines were waiting for us. One approached us, and spoke to us, her face full of fire and fury. Said her name was Sil, and that this were the home of her tribe. She told us that we would suffer for our trespass. I tried to reason with her, I really did, Mr. Journal, find some common ground and all, but she wouldn't listen, and then, the sound of her voice started to lull me and my vision went red again. There were a fight with Sil and the other sirines after that, and we won, but I don't remember any of it. When I woke up, the sirines were all gone, near everyone were hurt, and I were tied up. Apparently, I'd not snapped out of it right away when the sirines were defeated, and the others had to restrain me to keep me from hurting anyone. Something about Sil's powers being more developed than your typical sirine's. Gods, but I hate being charmed, Mr. Journal! If I ever see another sirine in my sodding life, it'll be too soon. I'm just glad Ajantis and Rasaad were able to restrain me in time before I did any real damage. I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive myself if I'd seriously hurt anyone.

At least one good thing came of it, though – the place were definitely a cove, and a cove with a cave at that. Safana thinks this may be the cave we're looking for. We've stopped right inside the cave entrance for now – after all, if this is Black Alaric's cave, then we may run into the monsters Safana talked about deeper inside. After getting turned against each other by all those sodding sirines, none of us are in any shape to take on big scary monsters. Honestly, I'd probably feel safer resting outside the cave, all things considered, but it's still raining out there, and sitting around in the rain is the absolute worst, Mr. Journal. We'll probably be safe so long as we set a rotating watch. Ajantis is guarding the path deeper into the cave right now. Hopefully, no monsters show up before we're ready for them. It's a bit scary.

But, I have to admit, it's also exciting! Real pirate treasure, Mr. Journal! Just imagine! And it's real close now – so close I feel like I could reach out and touch it. It's in there. I can feel it. Oh, I wonder what kind of things will be in there. Swords and gems and gold coins from halfway across the world, maybe? My imagination's running right wild, and I'm sure you're just as excited, Mr. Journal.

Gods, real pirate treasure! I can scarce believe it!

* * *

A/N: And that's all for today! I'm super excited that Safana's in the party now! I'm having a lot of fun with her, as this is the first time I've ever picked her up! She's very interesting! Tune in next time as our heroes plunder the fabled treasure of Black Alaric! Toodles~!


	58. Chapter 58: A Doubtful Divination

A/N: Aaaand, finally, I am back with a super long chapter. Just in time for the holidays, too! Enjoy!

* * *

Day 120, Hour 6

Morning, Mr. Journal. We are fully healed, fully rested, and fully ready to _kick some_ _ **sodding ARSE!**_ Any monsters what are deeper in this cave had better watch out, because there ain't no way they can bring us down! My bosshammer is ready to HAMMER SOME BOSS. YEAH! We're going to find that pirate treasure and it's going to be so sodding awesome, you don't even know, Mr. Journal!

Anyways, I suppose I should catch you up, though there's not too much to tell. Mostly, we've spent a long while resting here just inside the cave entrance, recovering from that beating those sirines gave us. ...Gods, Mr. Journal, you don't think the monsters what are in this cave are more sirines, do you? I sure hope not. I don't think I could handle more sirines, bosshammer or not. Oh man, I'm already starting to psych myself out. Not good. Not good at all. I need to think kick-arse thoughts, so I can, you know, kick some arse.

Oh, I _did_ kick some arse last night, Mr. Journal! That was a thing I did! We got attacked by a carrion crawler what came in from the beach just as I were starting to lay my bedroll down. Apparently that beach were not as devoid of carrion crawlers as I thought, Mr. Journal. That's definitely going to cost it some points on the "awesome beachy beach" scale. But, it didn't even get close to us, because I whipped out my scorcher spell, and it were toast before it had gotten five feet into the cave. It was amazing.

...Recounting this epic battle has renewed my confidence, Mr. Journal. These monsters are going down, and we're all going to get REAL. PIRATE. TREASURE.

* * *

Day 120, Hour 9

What did I tell you, Mr. Journal? Real pirate treasure, and it's all ours! Immy and Safana are going through the loot and bagging it up right now, and by Tymora's fateful coin, there is a lot of it! We sure did have to work for our supper though, as it were. Those monsters what Safana told us were guarding the treasure? Flesh golems, Mr. Journal. Sodding flesh golems. I know she said the treasure was guarded, but never in a million years would I have thought it would be flesh golems of all things. I got on her case about it, but she just pointed out that. To be fair, she'd never said they _weren't_ flesh golems. And, well, I guess she's got a point there. Still, those things are right tough, Mr. Journal, and they hit _hard_. What's worse, they're resistant to magic, and you can only hurt them with magic weapons. We would have been done for if it weren't for Ajantis and his spider sword, Mr. Journal. Gods, but I'm glad now Kivan up and left before I could give it to him back at the Friendly Arm.

So, let me tell you all about our grand adventure in this tiny sodding cave. Seriously, it's so shallow that even back here I can hear the sounds of waves and gulls' cries echoing off the walls. We weren't but twenty feet in when we were attacked by the first of the golems. It just came lumbering out of a side passage, this shambling patchwork horror of limbs and skin from at least a dozen different creatures, and I think some of them were people, even. Well, I shot a barrage of Magic Missiles at this thing as soon as I saw it coming towards us. They didn't even leave a mark, just bounced off like so many raindrops off a rooftop. Yeslick charged it and bashed it straight in the stomach with his warhammer, and it didn't do anything! It were absolutely horrifying! It weren't until Ajantis managed to land a hit with the spider sword that we realized it could only be hit with strong magic weapons. After that, me and Immy got out some enchanted arrows and started shooting at it while Ajantis kept it from charging us. The thing were sodding resilient, it were, but it finally went down, though Ajantis were a bit worse for the wear at the end of it.

We were a bit more careful after that, as we didn't want another one of those things to catch us unawares. We had Immy and Safana take point and scout ahead, all hidden in the shadows and whatnot. It were a good thing, too, as there were some pretty nasty traps around past that point. We followed behind at a safe distance until we came to a series of narrow bridges what led over a pool of water and around a blind corner. We waited there for them to check the other side, and the next thing we knew, Safana were running back toward us to warn us another flesh golem were coming. Immy had stayed behind to distract it long enough for us to get ready for a surprise attack. A few seconds later, she came tearing around the corner, running across the bridges at top speed, with the golem close behind. Thanks to Safana, though, we were ready, and soon as Immy were out of our crosshairs we filled that thing right up with magic arrows and bullets and whatnot. We managed to bring it down before it even reached the rest of us. Luckily, that were the last of the golems. It weren't the last of the traps, but Immy and Safana had that part covered.

On the other side of the bridge, there were this big room with another pool of water in it. And in the center of the pool of water, there were a stone island rising up out of it, piled high with all sorts of treasure. Pirate treasure, Mr. Journal. Luckily, the water were shallow enough to walk through on one side.

And, that's where we are now. Immy and Safana are going through it and putting together an inventory, and. Oh. Um. Sorry, Mr. Journal, that's where I'm going to have to cut off for now. Immy's calling me over to help identify some stuff. Bardic knowledge, and all. Read a lot of books. Heard a lot of stories. That kind of thing.

* * *

Day 120, Hour 21

Gods, but I didn't think the day could get any more exciting after finding a load of real, honest to gods pirate treasure, but the adventures just keep piling up! We've fought hobgoblins, and saved a little kid, and found out that there might be some weird, scary stuff I've forgotten about my past. Well, either that, or that lady were just touched in the head, but I doubt it. She seemed like the real deal. But, uh, more on that later. I keep forgetting that these things don't make any sense unless I write them in order.

So, when I last left off, we'd just found Black Alaric's infamous secret stash of AWESOME PIRATE TREASURE, and I'd gone off to help Immy and Safana take inventory of it, as there were quite a few magic items mixed in with all that gold. I were able to tell what they all were right quick. It's amazing how much you can pick up from stories, it is. Well, and magic practice, that too. I admit it would've been near impossible for me to identify some of the items in the stash were it not for Xan's lessons on recognizing different spells and whatnot. The Wand of Paralyzation, for example. There were one of those there. Right useful thing to find, if you ask me. There were also some pretty standard magic darts, a few potions, and a book on bodily health and fitness what were enchanted to strengthen your endurance just by reading it. Unfortunately, it were also enchanted to disappear after being read once. The most awesome thing, though, were a cloak what lets its wearer turn into a wolf! How awesome is that, Mr. Journal?

After that, Safana told us she thought we worked real well together and asked us if she could travel with us full time for treasure hunts and whatnot. I thought that were a great idea, of course, because Safana is awesome, Mr. Journal. I were so happy about the idea that I didn't even think to tell her that treasure hunting wasn't exactly a thing we did all the time. Yeslick did, though. Explained to her that we were on a serious mission to investigate the iron crisis in the region. I added in some details after that and helped get her up to speed on what we'd found out so far. Turns out, she's totally okay with that, as we're going after the Iron Throne. She says the Iron Throne's got a lot of power and money, and we stood to gain a lot if we could actually take them down. I told her that weren't why we were doing all this, but she just shrugged and said the point stood. Either way, she were totally down for helping us out, long as she got a share of the treasure.

Speaking of the treasure, we decided not to divvy it up then and there – it'd be much easier to sort through everything and discuss who got what once we were back in civilization. Safana took the darts right away, though, as they're kind of a specialty of hers and she can make real good use of them. We decided we'd spend the rest of the day exploring the coast, keep going south until we hit the Cloudpeaks, and then turn east towards Nashkel. I mean, we're nowhere near Nashkel or the Cloudpeaks yet, but that's the long term plan.

Anyways, after Safana were all good and caught up, and the treasure were all good and packed up, we left the cave for more adventures on the coast! It were still raining when we went outside, but there weren't no more lightning or thunder, at least, so I weren't near as worried about Talos and being on his shite list as I were last night. Once we'd gone back down to a part of the beach where we could get a bit inland, we looked back and saw just how high up the cliff face what the cave had been in went. It went up and out, overlooking the ocean, and it were then that I knew one thing: I wanted on top of it. I wanted on top of it so bad. So, I talked to the others, and they agreed to help look for a way up.

Soon enough, we found a path in the woods climbing upward through the rocks. As we followed the path, we ran straight into a lone hobgoblin what jumped out at us from behind one of the outcroppings on our left. Of course, he couldn't get a single arrow into any of us before Yeslick charged out and bashed his face in. Gods, but that dwarf is fast. I know I've said it before, Mr. Journal, but he is unnatural fast. Even I can't move that fast, and my legs are twice as long as his, they are!

So, we were feeling pretty good about ourselves as we kept going up this path. Ended up letting our guard completely down. It never occurred to us that the hobgoblin we'd encountered were just a scout for a larger group of them. Unfortunately, that were exactly the case, and they were waiting for us up on the high ground above the path. They started shooting at us before we even had a chance to get up to them, and, worst of all, they had poison arrows, Mr. Journal! Both Rasaad and Yeslick got shot, and Rasaad were poisoned real bad.

Well, I knew we had to finish that fight right quick, or else we'd be done for. And, it were pretty clear that the only two who'd even have a chance of getting up there before those hobgoblins completely decimated us with those arrows were Yeslick and Rasaad. So, before any of the others could try anything, I took matters into my own hands, and shot a fireball up at them. The aim were perfect, Mr. Journal. Took them all out at once, and didn't singe a one of us! I'm making real progress in these big area spells, I am.

After that, I used my abilities to help Rasaad with the poison, and we kept heading upward. It started to get a bit tough going, and it were a real rough climb up, but soon, we cleared the rocks, and we were up on this big wide grassy plateau, with not a tree around. Immy and me ran to the edge, and there were the sea, stretching out for miles on the horizon. It were a lovely sight. That weren't all, though – this clifftop, it were so high up you could see for miles in the other direction. The view northeast were blocked by that big cliff what we'd lost so much time traveling around, but southeast? We could see so far, Mr. Journal! Why, if it weren't raining, I bet we'd have been able to see all the way to Nashkel from there! Me and Immy spent a bit of time seeing if we could pick out any landmarks we recognized. I didn't find anything familiar, as it's a bit hard to see anything specific with so many trees around down there, not to mention how sodding _tiny_ and _fuzzy_ stuff looks when it's far off. Immy swore on her shortsword she could see the stone circle ruins where we'd fought Bassilus. I couldn't make out anything where she were pointing, though, so I'll just have to take her word for it.

Once me and Immy had finished looking around, we all headed back down to find somewhere to shelter from the rain and eat some lunch. We ended up stopping under a rocky overhang just off the path, about halfway down the slope. I tried to hit up Safana for more of her awesome pirate stories while we were eating, but she were too busy trying to put the moves on Ajantis, who still didn't seem to know quite how to respond to all the flirting. You know, Mr. Journal, I'd be right annoyed by the lack of stories this meant, if it weren't so sodding _cute_.

As tales were clearly not forthcoming from Safana, I just went and talked with Immy some more instead. Eventually, our conversation turned to what the Neera army were up to right now. It is a thing we were both very curious about , Mr. Journal. Oh, and here's the best part – about halfway through, Rasaad joined in and it just turned into one big wild speculation party. He were a bit subdued with sharing his thoughts at first, almost like he were nervous to join in on this kind of gossip or something. It were so adorable, Mr. Journal. He is so adorable. You have no idea. By the end of it though, we had _so many theories_ , from another attempt at Durlag's Tower, to helping old Bentley out around the inn, to mercenary work in Ulgoth's Beard. Though, knowing Neera, the actual stuff she and her clones are doing is probably way more exciting than anything we could come up with. I'll have to ask her about it once we get back to the Friendly Arm.

By the time we were done eating, the rain were starting to clear up, so the next leg of our journey were a lot more pleasant. We got back down to the bottom of the slope, then started heading south along the coast. Somewhere around mid-afternoon, we ran into a lady what were absolutely beside herself. Her cap were askew, and her eyes were all red like she'd been crying. Soon as she saw us walking by, she rushed right up to us and started begging us for help. Told us her kid had been playing up in the old abandoned lighthouse nearby when some worgs came out of the woods and surrounded it. Said it were only a matter of time before they figured out a way inside. Well, soon as he heard there were a child in danger, Ajantis rushed off in the direction of the lighthouse without a word. I only stopped long enough to tell the lady we'd take care of the worgs before following him.

The lighthouse weren't hard to find, as it rose up taller than any of the trees, and we could easily see it from where the lady was. The lighthouse itself were in the center of several other boarded-up buildings in the ruined remains of what looked to have once been some sort of tiny walled village. Sure enough, there were around three worgs circling the lighthouse with hungry eyes. Big ones, too. Soon as they noticed us, they stopped prowling and charged us. I mean, it weren't surprising. We probably looked like a way easier meal than some kid holed up in a lighthouse. Ajantis, Rasaad, and Yeslick got in front of the rest of us to keep the worgs from getting at us and started hacking at them. Meanwhile, Safana threw darts, I threw Magic Missiles, and Immy shot arrows. Pretty soon, all the worgs were dead. Rasaad had gotten a pretty nasty bite on one of his legs, and I had to use up my healing ability for the day to patch him up, but aside from that, we were uninjured.

Once the fight were over, we called up to the kid and said it were safe to come out and the worgs were dead, but there were no answer. Immy wanted to go up into the lighthouse to find him, but the door were halfway blocked by rubble and locked, to boot!. I'm not even sure how the kid had found a way inside in the first place. After about half an hour of shouting ourselves hoarse and searching all over for a way inside, we gave up and went back to find the lady and tell her what had happened.

When we let her know we'd been unable to find her son, she just laughed and told us not to worry – said he were afraid of strangers, and we'd probably scared him worse than the worgs. She thanked us again and said she'd go back to get him after we'd left. I'm glad we were able to help a kid, Mr. Journal, though I feel a bit bad that we might have inadvertently scared him shiteless in the process. Still, I suppose it's a good thing he were scared of us – with all the bandits and cutthroats plaguing the area, being wary of strangers is a good trait for a kid to have. I know that sounds a bit funny coming from me, Mr. Journal, I mean, I know I'm real trusting of folks, maybe a bit too much so, and I'm sure you remember all the times it's gotten me into real trouble. And I know I've probably said before that it's just too sad to go through life distrusting everyone. I stand by that, but, you know, I can defend myself if things go wrong. A little kid can't. If you're a little kid, I think caution is a lot more necessary, you know? But here I am, going off on a tangent again, when you're in this for the adventure. I should get back to that. Um. So. We kept heading south through the forest by the coast, and the next few hours were pretty uneventful. We fought a handful of tasloi, but aside from that, we didn't see another soul until the early evening.

Right as the sun were starting to set, we ran into a lady in the woods what claimed to be a diviner and offered to give us a palm reading. Well, I'd never had my palm read before, Mr. Journal, and I jumped at the chance. Immy were interested, too, but she said I could go first. So, the lady took my palm, said she'd start with the past, as that were where the key to the future were, and started saying all sorts of stuff what she couldn't have known without magic. She knew that I'd only recently taken to the road, and that I'd grown up in a scholarly place, and that I'd had a great sage as a mentor. I confirmed that she were right, and told her about Gorion and Candlekeep. Then, she looked further back, and she were spot on about what I were like as a kid. Said I had a good childhood, but were a great troublemaker, and that much were true. Immy and me were always getting up to all sorts of nonsense back then.

After that, though, she said that she could see I hadn't always lived at Candlekeep, and that she was going to look into my days before Gorion took me in. Well, that piqued my interest right quick, Mr. Journal. I always knew I were already a few years old when I came to Candlekeep, but I never could remember anything from those days. I were just too wee, you know? So, I were right excited that this lady might be able to tell me about where I'd come from, as it were something I'd wondered myself many a time. But, instead of telling me, she took one more look on my hand and just got this absolutely terrified look on her face and shouted out, "MERCIFUL GODS!"

Naturally, I wanted to know what she had seen, but she refused to tell me. Just kept saying all stiff-like that she saw-a-happy-future-for-me-and-mine-that'll-be-ten-gold-please-and-after-that-please-leave-thanks. I asked her again, I mean, I were so close, Mr. Journal. She'd said she'd tell me where I'd come from, she'd shed light on a mystery that'd bothered me for as long as I could remember, and then she'd just refused. Not only that, she'd acted like she'd seen something REALLY SCARY, then refused! And she kept refusing, Mr. Journal, no matter how much I begged! Eventually, I just gave up, as it were clear she didn't want to talk about it, and decided to just give her the ten gold and move on. But then, when I tried to give her the money, she freaked out and screamed at me to get away from her, then ran off.

I were left with so many questions, Mr. Journal. What were in my past that were so scary? I. I don't even know what to think now. I asked Immy what she thought, as she'd come to Candlekeep soon after I did. She said she didn't know, but there were a pause before that when she got this _look_ on her face. It felt almost like she knew something what I didn't, but that would be silly, Mr. Journal. Immy and me, we're practically sisters. We never keep anything from each other. So, I figured that I were just frazzled from what I'd just heard and, you know, imagining things, and decided not to push her about it. If she says she doesn't have any idea, then she doesn't. Simple as that. Still, the way that lady acted really bothers me. She were acting almost like I were some...some sort of _monster_ , towards the end. Gods, what did she _see_!?

We kept traveling south after that until nightfall, but I were so bothered by this past thing that I can barely remember anything about the trip. All I can remember really is trees, sore feet, and agonizing over what in the Hells that lady could have seen in my past what scared her so. We've stopped for the night, in a copse of trees around 20 feet from the beach, but that divination stuff is still right there at the forefront of my mind, and writing about it is only making it even worse. Gods, but I wish I could just move on from it, but every time I try, my mind just wanders back to it.

Hopefully, a night's rest will give me some peace of mind, and I won't be so worried about this come morning. Good night, Mr. Journal.

* * *

A/N: This chapter actually marks the first place I've broken my "no reloads unless TPK" rules. It was during the fight with the hobgoblins. Originally, I did aim the fireball perfectly, but then at the last moment, Rasaad disregarded my orders to stay put, ran straight into the fireball just as Linn was casting it, and died. I was about to go back to the temple, thinking about how to implement it into the story, when I realized that this was not the story I wanted to tell. This was a sensitive time for Linn, she was just learning about aiming AoE spells correctly, and I realized if I let this go through, things would get a LOT more angsty than I was willing to write. Linn would most likely refuse to use magic after that. After Rasaad was revived, she'd probably start avoiding him, too consumed by guilt to face him. She'd probably avoid Xan, too, once he came back, because she so clearly screwed up after he'd gone to all that trouble to teach her how to NOT get her friends killed with her magic. And the infuriating part was, it WASN'T a failure on Linn's part. She aimed that fireball PERFECTLY and the stupid AI ruined it. So, I reloaded, turned off the AI, and tried again, resulting in the version of the fight shown above. This experience made me realize I have now reached the point where the impact on the story means more to me than the challenge of my playthrough rules. Therefore, I have implemented a new caveat to my rules for the future: If an outcome would ruin a part of the story that I think is important, then I can reload. **This justification, however, can only be used for things that would SERIOUSLY effect the story for more than a few chapters, and under no circumstances will I use it to undo a character being chunked. If someone is chunked, they're gone for good, and I have to deal with that.** The only exception to this is Imoen. If she for some reason gets chunked, then in the story, she will just be incapacitated and not in the party for the rest of the story, to avoid any plot holes regarding BG2. And if you're worried these exceptions will happen super often, they won't. I'm already in Chapter 7 in-game, I have probably at least 40 more unwritten fanfic chapters' worth of material in my notes, and I have only invoked this caveat, I think it was two other times? It was either one or two, I'd have to check my notes to be sure. Anyways, with that now aside, tune in next time as our heroes continue heading south along the coast and get themselves into a bit of a pickle~ Toodles~


	59. Chapter 59: Gnoll Way Out

A/N: Hey everyone! Miss me? Sorry for the unexpected two month absence. Not sure if I should be sharing something this personal, but, well, my dad died suddenly and unexpectedly at the end of December and I had to distance myself from Baldur's Gate for a while because suddenly, a lot about the main character's situation, having a lot of new responsibilities forced on them all while having to deal with the loss of a father figure, was hitting _way_ too close to home. I won't go so far as to say I'm totally okay now, but I think I'm finally in a good enough state, emotionally and mentally, to start writing again. I feel like I'm ready, and it feels good to be back at this. Anyway, enough about that. Sorry to bum you out. Now, I've been working for a week straight on this chapter, and I really hope you enjoy it. You won't have to wait near as long for the next one, I swear.

* * *

Day 120, Hour 22

Gods. I can't sleep, Mr. Journal. I can't stop thinking about it. What in the Hells did that woman see?

* * *

Day 120, Hour 23

Sod this. Sod it all. I'm so sodding tired. I'm just going to lie down, and then I'm going to sleep. Ain't nothing what can stop me.

* * *

Day 121, Hour 0

Sod.

Sod sod sod sod sod.

* * *

Day 121, Hour 10

Good morning, Mr. Journal. I am still a touch tired, but at least I was able to get some sleep, thanks to Rasaad. He got up for his watch sometime in the wee hours, only to find me pacing a sodding ditch into the ground just outside camp, and, well, we had a bit of a talk. We sat down by the dying embers of the campfire, and he asked me what were keeping me up so. I ended up telling him everything what was on my mind, you know, about that fortuneteller, and all, and how her vision had me all scared and whatnot. And Rasaad, well, he knew just what to say.

He told me that he had some experience with getting himself stuck on the past, too, and one thing he'd found it was real important to remember was that, well, it were in the past, you know? Anything what's happened has already happened. Sure, we can't change it, but it can't change us anymore, neither. It's already had its effect on us, it's already a part of us, whether we know about it or not. So, finding out about whatever it were that lady saw, it's not gonna make me any different from who I am right now. At least, that were the gist of it. His words were much prettier than mine, but I were right tired and I don't remember enough of them to quote him the whole way through. Only phrase what really stuck with me were something along the lines of how one's inner light can't be snuffed out by a shadow what's already long past.

Course, I still weren't convinced. See, my biggest fear was, still is, what if whatever shadow that lady saw _weren't_ long past? What if it were still there, and I were someone, _something_ , awful, and just didn't realize it yet? I remember trying to tell Rasaad that, Mr. Journal, and it felt like my throat were closing up and the night sky were falling down around me and the stars were all going out. And that fear, it kept growing and growing until it were almost a certainty, and then – I felt his hand brush against my cheek, all gentle-like, and suddenly, everything went back to the way it were. I were sitting there next to him under the stars, with everyone else asleep and the sea just a stone's throw away. That were when he told me in this voice what were soft but at the same time so strong I felt like it could lift me right up off the ground just from hearing it that he'd traveled with me for long enough to know that just weren't true. He said I had a brilliant light within me, that he saw it even now, and even if there were a shadow, all that meant were my light were strong enough to shine through it. It were the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, Mr. Journal. And it were just what I needed to hear then. I only wish I could find the words to tell him how much his words meant to me.

After that, it were like a weight had been lifted off my chest, and I were at ease enough to fall asleep. And now, it's morning. I admit, I am still a bit worried about whatever it is that lady saw, and I'm still a bit scared. But, it's less crushing now, and it's all thanks to Rasaad. If my inner light is bright, then his is absolutely radiant.

But enough about all that. I'm sure you don't want me to take up pages upon pages gushing about Rasaad. You want to know what lies ahead. We're just about ready to go now - Immy just needs to pack up a few of her things and we'll be off. The plan for today is to head south along the coast towards the Cloudpeaks. I don't know what adventures lie ahead of us, but I'm sure they'll be grand!

* * *

Day 123, Hour 1

Sorry I haven't written in so long, Mr. Journal. I'd catch you up now, but we've been traveling for more than a day without stopping to rest, and I'm sodding tired. The short version is that we were ambushed by gnolls and they caught us completely unprepared. Yeslick were mortally wounded and we had to drop everything and head straight for the temple in Nashkel quick as we could to have a chance at saving him. We just got back from the temple, and he's going to be okay, but I'm too sodding tired to even be relieved. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to fall face down into this nice, fluffy bed here at the inn. No more writing. No more thinking. Only sleep now.

* * *

Day 123, Hour 9

Gods, that were a much-needed rest. I feel like I've just slept for several days, not just 8 hours. The Nashkel Inn really does have the best beds, Mr. Journal. On a less happy note, I cannot believe our coastal adventures have had such a jarring end. This were supposed to be a bit of a break from all the dead serious stuff what we've had to deal with recently, but it looks like that were just wishful thinking on my part. I guess any adventure can be dangerous, no matter what the underlying stakes are. Still, it could be worse. At least all of us are in one piece now, though I'm not sure how long it will take Yeslick to recover from his injuries. He's getting on up there in years, and can't really bounce back from this kind of stuff like we young folk can.

Anyways, I suppose I should catch you up on all what you've missed. I left off two days ago, back when we were still pretty close to that old lighthouse. After we headed out that morning, we traveled south along the coast for an hour or so until we hit a dirt road what led inland. After taking a vote, we decided to follow the path. It didn't go so far into the woods where we couldn't hear the sea anymore, but the coastline ended up just out of sight. It were a real pretty day, with the sun shining, gulls calling, and a soft breeze blowing through the treetops. Right relaxing, in fact. Enough to make a girl forget all her worries. The best part is, it were peaceful. Nothing showed up to try to kill us or nothing, it were just a nice walk all the way, and around noon, we stopped for lunch. It weren't just trail rations, neither! We got a little cookfire going and Ajantis were able to whip up a nice stew with what we had. He insisted we let him. It will never cease to amaze me what a good cook that boy is. I mean, he sure don't look the part, Mr. Journal. Shiny knight, and all.

Course, since Ajantis were so preoccupied what with making lunch and all, that meant Safana couldn't get all flirty and whatnot with him. I mean, not for lack of trying, but he were concentrating so sodding hard on that cookpot I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't noticed her at all. Eventually she got tired of being passed up for a pot of soup and stalked over dejectedly to where the rest of us were sitting. And that, Mr. Journal, is when Immy and me went in for the kill. By which of course I mean we ganged up on her to press her for more awesome pirate stories.

This time, she didn't tell us about adventures on the high seas, or raids on ports or trade ships or anything like that. Instead, she told us about what pirates did while they were at home. And, for the crew what Safana had joined during that fateful raid at the Calimport docks, "home" were the Nelanther Isles. Specifically, a tiny, gods-forsaken spit of land without a name, about half a day's sail north of Ioma. That were where the pirate band what Safana were part of made their base. She told us all about this little shanty town on the beach, built mostly of canvas and driftwood and like to fall apart at any minute, where children and folks what had gotten too old for active pirating lived while the able-bodied adults sailed the high seas and amassed booty. The base were only big enough for about two ships' worth of pirates and their families, as the group what Safana belonged to weren't a real big one. She spoke especially fond-like of this old lizardwoman what were in charge of repairing the ships when they came home all beat up from skirmishes with naval patrols from places like Amn and Calimshan. Apparently, the two became fast friends, and the lizardwoman taught Safana most of what she knows about how ships work and whatnot.

Immy commented that the base didn't sound near as cutthroat as she'd imagined an island full of pirates would be, and Safana assured her that she'd seen plenty of that kind of thing. Sure, the band she were a part of were small and close-knit, but the more pirates you gather in one place, the more dicey things get. She finished with a grin, saying that things really got exciting the times they'd stop for supplies on the Isle of Skaug, where there were a whole pirate city built up, but that were a story for another time.

By then, Ajantis had finished cooking, and it were finally time to eat. After getting me some stew, I went to sit down next to Rasaad. I knew I needed to thank him for his kind words the night before, but I couldn't find the words to say, and we ended up eating in silence for a while. I must have gotten nervous and eaten a bit too fast, because I finished my stew long before he did. It were then, staring down that empty bowl, that I finally mustered the courage to speak. I had so much poetry in my head, so many things I wanted to say, sprouting up like flowers inside of me, but all what came out were "Thanks for talking with me last night, it were right nice of you."

I were so embarrassed, Mr. Journal. Gods, I probably sounded like such a fool. He were still real nice about it though, accepted my thanks with a smile so bright it glowed. Put me right at ease. Gods, but that man is something else.

Unfortunately, the moment just weren't meant to last any longer, because it were around then that Immy showed up and dragged me off all excited-like to go for a bit of a walk. Said we should scout around the nearby area and see if anything interesting were around while we waited for the others to finish. It sounded all responsible and whatnot, the way she said it, but honestly, I think she just wanted to explore a bit, and, well, I did too, so what were the harm? The sky were starting to get a bit gray, then, and it weren't as pretty as before, but hey, that didn't make it any less of a good time for exploring. And, it turns out we really did find something exciting! There were a little wooden sign in the shape of an arrow nailed to one of the trees what pointed out another path snaking deeper into the woods. It said there were some sort of excavation site down that ways.

Well, I'd read about archaeological excavations back in Candlekeep before and all the amazing things about our history they've turned up, but I'd never seen a real excavation site before, and I've gotta say, Mr. Journal, I were right excited. Immy and me, we ran straight back to the others and told them about our find. They agreed it sounded interesting, and that we could definitely check it out.

...Okay, well I may have begged just a little, but I'm sure they would have agreed even without that. I mean, can you think of anything more exciting than seeing archaeologists work firsthand? Imagine the wonders they must find! And so, we set off for this mysterious excavation site. It's a right shame we never got to see it. I'm still a bit disappointed about that.

We weren't on the new path but five minutes when a hobgoblin stepped out into view and started shouting at us. Said that we were on Ba'Ruk's land, and Ba'Ruk said to go away, so we should go away. I'm assuming that were his name, Mr. Journal. Anyways, seeing as he'd had the courtesy not to try skewering us on the spot, it only seemed right to extend the same to him. After all, I'm really not much for fighting when I can avoid it. Lots less pain and death that way, and all. So, I put on my most peaceful face, and told him all diplomatic-like that we were only passing through and he had our word we wouldn't bother him or try to take his land or anything. He just got all mad and said I were lying and my words meant nothing, though, and then he motioned to the bushes all around and shouted real loud, "KILL THEM!"

Next thing we know, kobolds and tasloi were rushing at us from all sides. So much for a peaceful solution, huh, Mr. Journal? Can't blame a girl for trying, though. Still, I've never seen kobolds and tasloi working together like that, and taking orders from a hobgoblin, no less! I mean, not even them Chill bandits what worked for Tazok managed that kind of stuff.

I managed to take out all the kobolds on one side of us with a fireball, though I may have accidentally set some underbrush ablaze while I were at it. Sent up a whole lot of smoke, and the spreading flames scared some tasloi off. Made it easier to finish the ones left off, and pretty soon, Ba'Ruk was alone. Seeing he were outnumbered, he dropped everything and ran. And, right as he did, there were a great thunderclap and the skies opened up, pouring rain down on all of us. It weren't the most pleasant experience, but I suppose it were a good thing, considering I damn sodding near started a forest fire back there. I've got to be more careful about collateral damage to the stuff around us. Didn't even think about that. Gods, but if Xan weren't off on his errand right now, he'd have probably lectured me something fierce about that. I can almost hear the horror stories about apprentice wizards what weren't careful and met terrible fiery fates.

We moved on a bit faster than before after that, as the rain were soaking us right through, and this excavation site were like to at least have tents or something we could shelter in. But, it weren't meant to be, Mr. Journal. As we followed the path, it just got more and more overgrown until it were near impossible to see it at all. The storm didn't really help matters much either, as the rain were coming down so sodding thick we couldn't see but a few yards in front of us. And, as if that were not enough, a pack of dread wolves came at us while we were trying to find the path again. We would have been done for if Yeslick hadn't rushed them as soon as he saw them charging toward us. We were all a bit worse for wear when that fight ended, but still, we pressed on, by this point more in search of shelter than anything else. It were miserable. My hair were all plastered to my face and my clothes had taken on so much water that it felt like they had lead weights sewn into them. Gods, but I'm glad I've taken to putting you into two bags instead of one recently. Thanks to that, the water didn't soak all the way through and you only got some damage around the edges. Still, if I ever fell into a lake or somesuch, you'd be done for. I'm going to have to find some better way to protect you, Mr. Journal.

Anyways, where were we? Right. We were all wet and miserable and slightly injured, and it were in this condition that the gnolls found us. We didn't even see them coming. They'd set up an ambush and came at us from all sides, an entire pack of them, all barking and snarling and smelling of wet dog. There must have been at least twenty of them, Mr. Journal! Sure, I were able to send a bunch of them running scared with a Horror spell, but there were still more than enough to surround and divide us. Things got right terrifying soon as they pushed through and broke our formation.

Next thing I knew, Immy and me were separated from the others and fighting for our lives against four of them. I managed to knock one on the head, but then the next second, one of their spears had gone straight through my shoulder and I dropped my bosshammer in shock. The pain were nearly blinding, Mr. Journal, and it were all I could do just to keep from passing out. My arm were right useless though, couldn't move the sodding thing at all. Immy had to hold them all off herself until Rasaad made it over there to help us. Soon as he had them distracted, I tried to pick up my bosshammer with my off hand, but I just weren't used to the weight. Couldn't do naught but flail it around aimlessly, which weren't much good to anyone at all. So I gave up and just started singing. At least, as a bard, that's one thing I can do even with a dud arm. It weren't much, certainly not as powerful as a proper spell or anything, but at least it offered the others some aid.

While we had our hands full, the others were fighting their own battles, too, and it weren't until the gnolls what we'd been fighting had fallen that we realized most of them had surrounded Yeslick and cut him off from the rest of us. He'd managed to take down several of them on his own, and Ajantis and Safana were doing their best to break through, but there were just too many of them. Once Rasaad and Immy joined in, the gnolls finally fell, but by the time we got to Yeslick, it were too late. He were just lying there, bleeding out in the pouring rain.

I'm not going to lie, Mr. Journal, I just about lost it. Between the rain and the tears, I could hardly see anything. Gods, but I were convinced we'd never get him to a temple on time when we were out here in the wilderness and all, and that we'd lost him for good. I probably would never have calmed down if Rasaad hadn't pointed out we were probably close enough to Nashkel by that point to make it there in a day or so, if we traveled without rest.

And so, we dropped everything we were doing and rushed for Nashkel. What with my dud arm and no cleric around to heal it, I were terrified I'd slow everyone down. To make matters worse, my shoulder got all red and stuff about half of the way there. Swelled up and everything. I thought for sure it were getting infected. It sure as hells hurt enough to be, that's for sure.

But, despite everything, we somehow made it here in one piece, all of us about to drop from exhaustion at the temple doors. Luckily, the priests of Helm were able to save Yeslick and get my arm back in working order. They say that the poor guy's in real bad shape, though. Like I said earlier, folks his age can't just bounce back from this sort of thing as quick. It may be several days before he's well enough to travel. Ajantis had to bring breakfast up to him this morning, as he still couldn't get out of bed. Gods, but I feel awful about this whole turn of events. Out of all of us, Yeslick deserved this least of all. It's like watching someone punch your granddad in the face. That just ain't right. I swear, Mr. Journal, if that stupid sodding old dwarf don't make a full recovery, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself.

Anyways, the rest of us will be meeting at the bar soon to decide our course of action from here. After all, if we all stay here and wait for Yeslick to recover, then there's no way we'll make it back to the Friendly Arm to check in on time. We'll be days late. But, at the same time, I think it might be too dangerous for us to split into two groups. I sure hope the others have got some idea what to do, because honestly I can't see any easy way forward. No matter what we do, there's going to be a drawback.

Ah, well. Here's hoping next time I write you things are better.

* * *

A/N: And that's where we're leaving off for now! Tune in next time as our heroes...well, they haven't quite decided what they're going to do yet, have they? Guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out! I hope you're excited, because I'm excited! T~o~o~d~l~e~s~!


	60. Chapter 60: Butt Kicking For Goodness

A/N: Hey everyone, ShoujoOnmyoji here. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not dead. Sorry it took so dang long to get this out, it turns out this whole executor job is a lot more work than I'd initially thought, and it's been hard finding time when I have, you know, both the time and the energy to write. I have been slowly writing this chapter, bit by bit, over the last few months. Didn't help that I had a month long bout of writer's block in the middle of it, but I guess that's how it is sometimes. Also, I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter yet. Anyway, since things are so unpredictable right now, and probably will be until this estate is closed out, I'm not going to make any promises about when I'll get the next chapter out. What I CAN promise, though, is I'm not going to stop. Not going to abandon this. However long it takes, there WILL be a next chapter, and there will CONTINUE to be a next chapter until the story is finished. This much I can guarantee. Anyways, enough of my apologies and excuses and what have you. I've kept you waiting long enough.

* * *

Day 123, Hour 11

Gods, Mr. Journal, but I never realized how many times things could flip all the way around in just a couple of hours. First we were splitting up, then we weren't, and we were staying here, but then we weren't all over again! Next thing we know, we're getting ready to go off on some fool quest! The exact opposite of both of our other plans! See, we want to get back to the Friendly Arm on time, sure, but we also don't, because there are gnolls, and...and...I'm not making a jot of sense, am I? Sorry, Mr. Journal, my head's all spinning around in circles from, I don't know what to call it. Plan whiplash? Plan whiplash. Let's go with that. I'll try to muddle through this with you in order. In order is generally the most orderly way to do things, after all.

So, two hours ago, we all headed to the Nashkel Tavern for a drink and a talk, you know, try and figure out how to go on about moving forward, and all. Ajantis were all for splitting up, half of us going to the Friendly Arm and half of us staying here. Said we had a duty to Yeslick as his allies and friends, but that we also had a duty to Khalid and Jaheira. They were expecting us to report back in a couple days, and it would be dishonorable of us to leave them hanging. And, as a general murmur of agreement rose up round our little segment of bar, I started to feel this rising sense of panic. It weren't right for us to go off separately, it just weren't. So, I spoke up. Shouted, really. It's already dangerous enough as it is with all of us together, I said, there's no way we'll all make it out of this unscathed if we go off on our own, I said.

I...may have overreacted a little, Mr. Journal. It's just, after what happened to Yeslick, I didn't want it happening to anyone else. Now that I think about it, maybe that's why I didn't fight it when we ended up on our current course of action.

So, the others eventually agreed with me that we'd all stay in town until Yeslick were well enough to travel, and, once that were settled, we sort of drifted into small talk. Eventually, the gnoll attack what started this mess came up, and, well, it attracted some unexpected attention. Next thing we know, we've got a crowd of people around us. It turned out pretty much everyone in that tavern and their dog had a gnoll story of their very own. Apparently, a pack of gnolls moved in to some ruined stronghold out west by the coast recently, and now they're sending out patrols what are terrorizing travelers and townsfolk alike. And not all of their marks were as lucky as Yeslick were, neither. Least he were still in one piece once they were done with him. We heard a few right grisly stories, folks who'd seen their friends torn to shreds right in front of them and barely escaped with their own lives. I'd never seen faces so sodding terrified, Mr. Journal.

I weren't really thinking when I said it, Mr. Journal. Or rather, I _were_ thinking. But, out loud. Said it were terrible, and someone ought to do somewhat about it. It were scarce out of my lips when someone slapped me on the back so hard that I near went face first into the bar. Then, a voice called out, loud and clear even in the din of that packed tavern, shouting something along the lines of, uh. Hold on. I don't remember the exact words, but...let me try to get the way he talks right, um...

"RIGHT YOU ARE, MY FIRE-HEADED FRIEND! AND TOGETHER, WE BRAVE HEROES SHALL PROTECT THE TOWNSFOLK, RESCUE FAIR MAIDENS, AND KICK THE MANGY BUTTS OF EVIL!"

Yeah, that's pretty close. So, anyways, I turned around to see just who the owner of this voice were, and standing behind me were a big hulking brute of a man, had to have been over seven feet tall. He were bald and grinning like an idiot, and there were a fuzzy little hamster just sitting on his shoulder like it were the most natural thing in the world.

There were so many things I could have told this man, seeing as he'd just volunteered our help in dealing with these gnolls and now every eye on the tavern were on us expectantly, but all I managed to croak out were, "We?"

After that, he started running at the mouth about how his hamster had seen the makings of great and kind heroes in us, and that he knew we would aid him in his righteous quest to stomp the gnolls and stab them in their furry rears. Said we both had a reason to go after them – our friend had been hurt by them, and they'd kidnapped his friend, and he wanted her back. Well, technically, he called her his "witch", but from the sound of it, they're friends.

I don't know what came over me, Mr. Journal, but I just agreed on the spot. I thought about this friend of his and what the gnolls could be doing to her, and I just couldn't bear it. I almost lost my friend, he didn't deserve to lose his.

Could have been a lot worse, Mr. Journal. I were expecting to get chewed out by the others, but it turns out they were with me on the idea – Immy and Rasaad didn't want other travelers getting hurt like Yeslick did, Ajantis were on board the moment a damsel in distress were mentioned, and Safana pointed out that where there are ruins, there's usually treasure. There were still the issues of contacting Khalid and Jaheira, and waiting for Yeslick to recover, but those turned out to be less of an obstacle than we thought. Immy suggested sending a courier to the Friendly Arm with a message explaining why we'd be late. Said Khalid and Jaheira would understand the situation, and that they'd probably do the same in our place. It were the right thing to do, after all. And Yeslick? Well, we explained the situation to him once we got back to the inn, and he told us to go. Didn't want other folks getting into trouble with the gnolls. After all, he said, if a tough old dwarf like him got walloped, what chance did other traveling folk have?

I have to admit, Mr. Journal, I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. The inn is a safe place for Yeslick to recover, especially since the innkeeper here is right grateful for the part Immy, Rasaad, and me played in clearing out the Nashkel Mines. He said he'd be right glad to see that any friend of ours is taken good care of, provided we have the coin to rent the room for the next few days. And, once we get back, Yeslick will probably be fully recovered and we can all go up to the Friendly Arm together. I don't think we have to worry about any assassins coming for him while we're gone, either. The bounty may extend to folks what travel with me now, but I'm still their main target. If any are tailing us, they're like to follow us when we leave town.

So, now we're getting ready to set off on another adventure a lot sooner than expected. Immy's off right now trying to hire a courier, and Minsc – that's the name of the big guy from the tavern what's coming with us – announced about five minutes ago that he and his hamster were going to go get some supplies and marched out the door. Once Immy gets back, we're going to divide up the loot we got from our coastal adventures – Yeslick deserves to get his share before we leave town, after all. Besides that, Safana insists on it. The woman does love her treasure, after all. And after that, it's off to the stronghold, I guess. Wish us luck, Mr. Journal.

* * *

Day 123, Hour 17

Evening, Mr. Journal. We've been heading west from Nashkel all afternoon, and we've just now reached the cliffs near where we fought that whole village full of xvarts way back. Minsc says from here on out we're going to switch direction and head south, then follow the Cloudpeaks west. Apparently, there are several big rivers between here and the stronghold. By changing direction we put ourselves south of the headwaters of one of them and save time we'd have otherwise wasted looking for a crossing. Gods, but it's good to have a ranger around again. I'd have never thought of that. Minsc really does know his wilderness stuff. Well, at least I think he does. He insists his hamster Boo is the one what came up with the idea, though, so maybe Boo is the smart one. I know it sounds a bit odd, Mr. Journal, but you never know with those ranger types. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them knew how to talk to animals. I wonder what kind of stuff Boo talks to Minsc about.

I'm sure you want me to stop talking about hamsters, though, and get you up to date. Let's see now, last time I left off, we were still back in town, just about to divvy up the spoils of our last adventure. You know, the pirate treasure. Actual pirate treasure, Mr. Journal. Gods, but I still can scarce believe it. Anyway, the jewels and stuff, we just sold. Got a pretty bit for it, too. Safana's part were the easiest to sort out. She just took one invisibility potion and then said she'd forfeit any interest in the other neat stuff we'd found in exchange for a double share of the gold. Everyone else were pretty fine with that, so we moved on to the rest of us. Yeslick were mostly interested in some of the scrolls and potions, so we left most of those behind with him. Me and Immy split the magic arrows, since we're the ones what have bows, and I ended up with the wand of paralysis we'd found, as I were the only one what could use it. Immy took the burning oil and the potion of master thievery, though the look on her face as she claimed them really made me hope she weren't hatching one of those _schemes_ of hers. Last time I got involved in one of those, back in Candlekeep, I ended up with my hair on fire and Gorion had us both on shelving duty for a week.

So, that pretty much left the Manual of Bodily Health and the AWESOME WOLF CLOAK. The rest of the party near unanimously decided to give me the book, seeing as my health took a right dip back when Swiftwing died. Honestly at the time I thought it were just, you know, part of the grieving process, but it turns out that's an actual thing what happens when a bond with a familiar gets broken and all. The more you know, I guess. Still, don't tell any of the others, Mr. Journal, but I haven't read it yet. I, um. I've got other ideas for it. Rasaad ended up with the wolf cloak, mostly because we all agreed he'd be able to make the best use of it, as he's the only one of us what doesn't either fight ranged or cast spells. After all, neither of those are things you can do very well if you're a wolf.

So, with that little bit of housekeeping behind us, we set off for the gnoll stronghold! We had scarce reached the edge of town, though, when this loud rude guy in a red robe came up to us and blocked our path. Kept insisting that we hear his job offer before we move on. I'm also pretty sure I heard him mumble something about meat shields, but when I asked him, he looked at me like I were crazy and told me he had no idea what I were talking about.

He went on to tell us that his name were Edwin and he needed to hire some mercenaries to help him kill an enemy of his. Specifically, a Rashemi witch what were currently at the gnoll stronghold to the west. If this sounds familiar, Mr. Journal, that's because it is. The lady what he wanted us to kill were the same friend what Minsc wanted us to rescue. I know so because Minsc practically screamed it at the top of his lungs before charging at Edwin with his sword drawn. Turns out he's a slippery one, though – disappeared right before our eyes, and left Minsc slashing at thin air. Guess that fancy wizardy-looking robe of his weren't just for show.

After that, Minsc were even more in a hurry than before, said we had to get there and rescue his witch friend, um, I think he said her name was, uh, Dina-something? Anyways, he said we had to get there and rescue her before the nasty wizard got there. I mean, that guy did seem like a real piece of work, so I think Minsc may have had a point there.

After that little encounter, the actual journey's been...well, so far, kind of boring. Not even very good conversation, unless you count Minsc talking to his hamster. They seemed to be having fun, at least. Me, I've spent most of the day humming to myself, trying to come up with some good tunes. The most interesting part of this trip so far has literally just been Immy telling me I were off key at one point. Of course, I'm sure there will be plenty of action once we make it to the stronghold proper, and then I'll _wish_ things were still this boring.

I'd draw this out longer, Mr. Journal, but whatever Ajantis is cooking smells absolutely divine, and it's making me right hungry, it is. That, and well, there's really not that much else to tell you right now. So, I'll see you later, I guess. Dinner calls.

* * *

Day 124, Hour 8

Morning, Mr. Journal! We're all packing up our gear and getting ready to get back on the road! Also, it turns out Minsc is really popular with the ladies. By which I mean Immy and Safana of course, though in Immy's case she's mostly just trying to get him to let her pet Boo. Safana, though, she's been fawning all over the man and his big muscles all morning, says she just loves a big strong man. I don't think Minsc really gets that she's hitting on him, though, considering he just offered to teach her his Hero Training Regimen.

Hey.

Hey. Mr. Journal.

I can see Ajantis sulking over there while he rolls up all our bedrolls. I think he's jealous. Hee hee. I am so gossiping with Immy about this later. I'll let you know how that goes.

* * *

Day 124, Hour 21

I'll say this much for today: It certainly made up for how uneventful yesterday were. Gods, but I smart all over. Word of advice, Mr. Journal, do not get yourself tangled up with big stupid guys and their magic clubs. It's just a bad idea all around. But I'll get to him later. After all, said big stupid guy were just the icing on today's oversized Things-What-Want-To-Kill-Us Cake, which also includes ingredients like xvarts and dread wolves and bears, oh my!

As you probably already know, we got a pretty early start this morning. But what you don't know is it were a right rocky start. See, right as we'd finished taking down our camp and were getting ready to leave and all, a pack of dread wolves came charging at us right out of the bushes! Talk about dramatic timing. One of them jumped Ajantis, but the rest all went straight for Rasaad at once. He managed to down two on his own, but then the last ripped into his arm something fierce and Immy had to jump in and cover for him while he drank a potion. Then Minsc rushed in, all fire and fury, and bashed the last one's head in while it were distracted. Ajantis fought his off easy enough with Safana's help. I...tried to rush to Rasaad's aid near the same time Immy did, by shooting the wolf and all, but I tripped over a rock and ended up shooting straight up in the air instead. Missed the sodding wolf by a league, I did. I mean, I don't exactly know just how long a league is, Mr. Journal, but I'm pretty sure I missed by one. Gods, but I'm glad we've got a lot of healing potions. Never realized how scary things could be without a healer around. I mean, I came pretty close to realizing, back down in the Cloakwood Mines, but at least that time we ran into Yeslick before things got really bad. I don't want to think about what happens if we run out of potions, Mr. Journal. I really hope we don't.

Anyways, even with that big sodding boulder blocking our path at the start – a lot more literal in my case – we managed to head out around mid-morning or so, trekking south through the woods like what Minsc said we should. During the first hour or so, I pulled Immy aside and we fell back a bit so we could gossip without the others hearing us. Mostly about Ajantis, and how this morning it totally looked like he were more into Safana than he's been letting on the past few days. Immy thinks there's a chance Ajantis were just upset because he doesn't approve of the way Safana acts in general, but either way, it is a development we will both have to watch with eagle eyes, for sure.

As we went on our way, the Cloudpeaks grew ever closer on the horizon, until it seemed like they were tall enough to touch the sky. The ground got more and more hilly, too. Started turning into a right hike after a while, it did, and all without a trail to follow. It's a good thing Minsc knows what he's doing with all this rangery stuff, else we'd have gotten lost ten times over. Also, we'd have probably run into more stuff what wanted to kill us, too. As it were, the only thing we chanced upon in those woods were a bear. Charged straight through our ranks right at Immy. Straight up ignored the rest of us! She were too quick for him, though. Leapt right out of the way of his big old paw swipe. And, thanks to that blind charge, he'd put himself right in the middle of all of us. Surrounded. Didn't stand a chance. Now that I think about it, that's probably right odd behavior for a bear. I wonder if something were wrong. Kind of makes me wish Jaheira were around right now. She'd know if this were a thing what bears usually do.

We made it through the forest and into the foothills sometime in the afternoon, far as I can tell, and that's when things started to get really interesting. Immy spotted a group of gnolls headed straight for us several hills away. By the time they reached us, I already had my bosshammer at the ready. Ready for a right bosshammering, I was. They didn't attack us right away, though – asked us to pay a toll instead! Said we'd just entered their territory and were trespassing. Now this, this were a right good sign, Mr. Journal. It means Minsc were right on the money - this is the best way to the stronghold, and we're getting a lot closer!

So, since we were here to knock the gnolls out of this area and keep them from terrorizing travelers and whatnot, we of course refused to pay tribute and told them their evil reign of terror ended here! ...Well, okay, technically Minsc is the only one what actually told them that, but we were all thinking it, Mr. Journal. And thus began our righteous campaign of BUTT KICKING FOR GOODNESS! That's another thing Minsc says a lot, Mr. Journal. I like it, and I hope I get a chance to say it too sometime. After all, it's exactly what we're doing, and he makes it sound bad-arse as heckie.

The gnolls, of course, got a heaping helping of BOSSHAMMER TO THE FACE. Combine that with Safana throwing darts like mad, Immy sneaking up on them from behind, Rasaad's fists of fury, and Minsc and Ajantis slashing away, and you get a group of really dead gnolls. We were awesome, Mr. Journal. The absolute most awesome. I cannot put into words how awesome we were. So let's just say we were heroic as frickle frack, and leave it at that.

We got so much gold off of them too. They were carrying bags upon bags of the stuff, Mr. Journal! A fortunate find, to be sure, but also a little disturbing. I mean, just how many travelers have they shaken down? How many have they _killed_? My only comfort is knowing they won't do it to anyone else. Oh, and also having a whole shite-load of gold. That's pretty comforting too.

Of course, we couldn't bask in the glow of our victory for too long, because the noise had got the attention of a group of xvarts what swooped in to try to get us while we were still tired from the fight. They were in for a nasty surprise, though, and that surprise's name were Minsc. Boo, too, actually. Furry little rascal launched himself off Minsc's shoulder and right at one xvart's face, started clawing at its eyes with Minsc cheering him on. I don't know whether to be impressed or a little scared. I had no idea hamsters could do that. Apparently the xvarts didn't either, because the gruesome display scared the others right off. Minsc put the one remaining xvart out of its misery and scooped Boo up, started cooing at him and praising him for what a good job he did. Remind me never to get on that hamster's bad side, Mr. Journal.

That were the last of the trouble we had in the foothills, but far from the end of of the general parade of things what wanted to kill us. As we moved on throughout the afternoon, the terrain got more and more rocky, the trees started to get a lot more sparse, and before we knew it, we were at the base of the Cloudpeaks, traveling along some of the lower-lying mountain trails. It were right beautiful, Mr. Journal. It had just hit that special part of the day, right before sunset, where the sunlight dances on the treetops, and they look just about like they've caught fire, all glowing and lit up with orange and gold. And then, you look up, and in that moment, it feels like the entire world is all light and magic, ephemeral yet eternal at the same time, a mass of beautiful contradictions. And then the next moment you look back down at the road and you're getting rushed by more dread wolves. Kind of puts a damper on the experience, doesn't it, Mr. Journal?

These dread wolves, just like the ones this morning, mostly ganged up on Rasaad. What in the Hells do all these dread wolves have against Rasaad? That's what I want to know. I mean, he's probably the nicest guy here, the rest of us are far more entrenched in the Wolf-Killing Arsehole Camp by this point. Maybe it's that wolf cloak? I mean, I'm pretty sure it's made of an actual wolf pelt, and if I were a wolf, I guess I'd be pretty mad if I saw someone wearing my friend's skin on his back. Maybe they'd treat him nicer if he were actually using the thing to turn into a wolf. Um. Dread wolves do get along with the regular, non-dread kind, right? I'm going off on a tangent again, Mr. Journal, I'm sorry. Ahem. Anyway, Rasaad has not yet used the wolf cloak's powers, and the dread wolves all really hated him. Luckily, this time we were able to fight them all off before anyone got hurt. Still, it were a right stressful experience. Probably more so for Rasaad, even if he's not really showing it. Getting charged by wolves is terrifying, I know, I've had it happen to me before too. Maybe I should talk to him about it later tonight, see how he's holding up. If I can get my foot out of my mouth long enough, that is.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, Mr. Journal. We still haven't gotten to the part about the idiot with the club, and I know I piqued your curiosity about that. Have no fear, my friend, because that's what's coming up next. After following the trail for a while, we found ourselves at the base of a roaring waterfall what Minsc told us were the headwaters of the river we were trying to bypass. So, the plan were, we had to climb to the top of the falls and come down on the other side. Luckily, there were a lot of rocks on this side all piled up what we could climb. After testing to make sure none of them were loose, Minsc went up first, sometimes stopping to point out to the rest of us where the best handholds and footholds were, to make it easier for us to follow. He may not be the most smart, Mr. Journal, but Minsc really does know his ranger stuff. Or maybe Boo is the one who knows it, I'm not quite sure. Either way, it's right helpful.

I sure didn't expect a dryad to be waiting for us at the top of that rock pile, but Hells if there weren't a dryad waiting for us at the top of that rock pile. By the time the rest of us made it up, she were already near the end of a conversation with Minsc, one what I'd only heard little snippets of while I'd been climbing. I made it to the top just in time to see Minsc put a big hand on her shoulder in some sort of comforting gesture and then shout that only the basest of villains would dare harm a gentle forest spirit, or something like that, and then turn away to charge off. Had to run after him shouting his name just to get him to stop and tell the rest of us what were going on. Apparently, bad men were trying to chop down the dryad's tree, and she couldn't stop them by herself. After hearing that, the rest of us were pretty much on board, and we followed Minsc's lead up a hill to the biggest oak tree I'd ever seen, what was overlooking the top of the waterfall. Sure enough, there were two men there, and one of them were wielding an axe – the lumberjacky kind, not the battle kind. What I weren't expecting, though, was for the two of them to wave and greet us all friendly-like. But they did, and it were right disarming. The man with the axe introduced himself as Caldo, and said the other were his brother Krumm. Krumm did not really seem all that smart. He mostly just kept going "duhhhhhhh" in this absent tone what reminded me uncomfortably of some sort of zombie. I mean, not that he were a zombie, he weren't, not nearly rotting enough for that. He just sounded like one, is all.

Minsc were really chomping at the bit, but I decided to go along with what were going on and talk a little. After all, I figured if we could solve all this without a fight, that would be for the best, really. So, I asked him what he were doing all the way out here. He told me that he were going to chop down the tree because he thought it were magic, and there were probably pixies or gnomes in it, which meant treasure. Honestly, I have no idea what pixies or gnomes have to do with treasure and I didn't really get his logic at all, but it takes all sorts, I guess. Anyway, he offered to let us help him chop it down for a share of the treasure. Said that since it were a big tree, there were probably enough for all of us.

I tried to explain to him what were really going on. Told him that the tree didn't have pixies or gnomes or treasure or anything, just a dryad. And, you know, that if he chopped down the tree, he'd hurt her, and also be destroying something really pretty. Well, _two_ somethings really pretty, the tree and the dryad. I thought I did a pretty good job of summing it up, Mr. Journal, I really did. But Caldo sure didn't. He got all angry and said I were lying, and I were just trying to trick him so I could steal the treasure for myself. And, before I could open my mouth to tell him just how sodding ridiculous that sounded, he and his idiot brother attacked us. Of all the arseholery, Mr. Journal!

Minsc and Ajantis moved right in to intercept Caldo, leaving the rest of us to deal with his brother, who were twice as big, twice as stupid, and carrying a huge club. The worst club, Mr. Journal. A club full of despair and pain. And worst of all, he kept up with that creepy zombie moaning the whole sodding fight! I tried to introduce him to my BOSSHAMMER, Mr. Journal, I really did, but it just bounced off him like it weren't nothing! And then, then he came in with that big honking club of his and knocked the wind right out of me! Fell down on my arse, too. I swear, Mr. Journal, the man hit like a sodding _stagecoach_! Felt like I just got trampled by at least four horses, I did! Then, before I could even start to get up, I saw him raise his club above his head, about to bring it down on my head, and my life were just flashing before my eyes! Next thing I knew, Rasaad rushed right in front of me and punched the big lout right in the gut. Immy's arrows sunk into him a split second after. That bought me enough time to get up and finish him with my last magic missile. He let out one last creepy zombie moan before toppling to the ground. I ran over to help Ajantis and Minsc with Caldo, but by the time I got there, they'd already finished the job, though Minsc's sword broke in the fray. Guess he got it way back before we cleared out the Nashkel Mines a couple few months back. The dryad came up the hill and thanked us, giving us a nice little potion before disappearing back into her tree.

Turns out Krumm had been decked out with all kinds of gear. The mace were magic as all get out, which explains why he hit so sodding hard. On top of that, he were wearing an enchanted belt what had been protecting him from blunt weapons the whole time! No wonder my bosshammer didn't leave a scratch! We gave Minsc the mace right away. He may not have the same skill with a mace as he does with a sword, but it's better than just leaving him unarmed. Though, knowing Minsc, he'd probably find a way to smash evil with his fists just as easy.

And so, the day were saved, and once more, we kicked butt for goodness. I swear, Mr. Journal, I love that phrase so much. It grows on me more each time I hear it. Minsc sure does have a way with words, at least when those words happen to be about thrashing evil. Outside that, he's a bit less eloquent, but hey, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.

After that, we threw both bodies off the edge of the waterfall. After all, it wouldn't do to have them lying around stinking up the area near the tree. That would probably make it a right unpleasant place for the dryad to live. You know, I still don't quite get how it came to this, Mr. Journal. I were perfectly diplomatic and everything, and we still ended up having to fight, and more people ended up dead. Why couldn't they just listen? It makes no sense.

I know, I know, there's no sense in getting hung up on that kind of thing. Part of the adventuring life, and all. But for all it keeps happening, it still bothers me just as much as it did when I were first setting out. Why can't there be a way to solve problems without death, Mr. Journal? I mean, sometimes there is, but...I'm talking about all the times when there isn't. It just seems so...arbitrarily cruel, that some encounters just...end in violence, no matter how hard you try. Ah, well. I suppose I'm not going to do myself any good stewing about it.

We've set up camp by the dryad's tree for the night, after cleaning up the mess, of course. Aside from the lingering shadow of death, this is actually a really nice spot. Didn't have time to think about that back during the fight. There's a nice little pond nearby, with nice little plants, and a bit further down, there's the waterfall, making all that noise. It's loud, sure, but it's also kind of calming. It's a shame everything hurts so much. I imagine I'd enjoy it a lot more if it didn't. But, you know, it's kind of necessary when you don't have a healer around. We've all only used enough healing potion to get rid of the real bad injuries, no sense wasting it on all the little cuts and bruises, even if they are really sodding unpleasant. Anyway, I'll talk to you later, Mr. Journal. I'm gonna go see if I can talk with Rasaad for a bit, make sure he's okay after the whole, uh, you know, wolf thing.

Here goes nothing.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it. The chapter that took nearly six months to write now draws to a close. I'm hoping I can get the next one out to you in a more timely manner, I mean, the bar is NOT set very high right now after the ridiculously long hiatus I just took, but again, I'm not going to make any predictions about when I'll be done with the next one. I'll just write whenever I can find the time and do my best. That will have to be enough until all this nonsense my dad left behind gets cleared up for good. So, um, whenever it may be, tune in next time as our heroes storm the gnoll stronghold and Linn finally gets Dynaheir's name right! Toodles!


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